Book 55: The Search
by SilverPilot
Summary: Cassie is recruited onto a team to retrieve the remains of the Rachel which has been discovered deep in the ocean. Hoping to find clues to the location of the missing Animorphs, Cassie discovers the war is far from over, and there is a new enemy to face.
1. Chapters 1 through 5

_**Author's Notes:**_

Hello everyone! I know that everybody and their mother and brother have posted a Book 55. I have toyed with the idea of writing my own continuation for many years but have never really had any ideas that I felt were good enough for it. I have been planning some ideas for the past few weeks and I feel like I've finally put together some ideas that I believe are worthy of a continuation. I really hope you will all give this a chance and I hope you will enjoy it. This is going to be a bit different than the previous Animorphs books that we all know and love, but it will still have some very familiar feelings to it. Anyway, enough of my babbling.

_**Disclaimer:**_

I do not own Animorphs. I'm just borrowing them for fun.

Now on with the story...

_**ANIMORPHS**_

Book 55: The Search  
>Narrator: Cassie<br>Cover Morph: Cassie to Blue Whale  
>Tagline: "The war isn't over yet…"<p>

**Chapter One**

My name is Cassie.

You know who I am. By now, everyone around the world knows my story. I am universally known as Cassie the Animorph. Marco always joked about us being like superheroes, and the truth is, according to the world at large, we sort of were now. Everywhere I go, people want to talk to me, take my picture, get an autograph. Talk shows call me all the time wanting me to come on and talk about my experiences fighting the Yeerks.

But the truth is, I have moved on.

I don't want to be Cassie the Animorph anymore. I left that all behind for good the day Jake came to me and told me he was taking Marco and Tobias on what would likely be a suicide mission to try and find Ax in a far-flung galaxy. Instead, I've been focusing on my life here on Earth.

I've been busy.

"You have a meeting with the parks director at two," Erin, my assistant, informed me as we marched down the corridor of our headquarters at Yellowstone National Park. We've been converting it into a sanctuary for all of the free Hork-Bajir that are no longer enslaved by the Yeerks. I checked my Blackberry and confirmed on my schedule what Erin had already told me. I also saw a text message from Ronnie.

He wanted to meet me for dinner. Tonight.

I paused for a moment, biting my lip. I'd been dating Ronnie Chambers for almost three years now. Things had been going extremely well. Tonight could be the night our relationship would reach the next level. Ronnie had been dropping hints like crazy about our future. I was starting to think he was ready for the next step.

"Is everything okay, Cassie?" Erin asked, stopping a couple paces ahead of me.

I looked up, still slightly distracted. I smiled.

"I think everything's going to be great," I gushed. I felt a flood of emotions rush over me. I had to sift through them to figure it all out. I was excited about the prospect of my boyfriend potentially proposing to me. I was nervous about said proposal and what it would mean for me and my future. I was sad that I couldn't share this elated moment with my best friend, Rachel. I was nostalgic about the fact that years ago, when I was nothing but a naïve teenager, I had hoped this day might come with Jake.

Like I said, a lot of emotions.

"The Secretary of Environmental Safety wants to have a conference call with you and your team at four," Erin continued, reciting from her schedule. I nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention to her anymore. We headed towards my office and all I could think about was what my wedding dress might look like.

Rachel would be so proud.

**Chapter Two**

I drifted through my meetings and calls that day without really paying much attention. I signed forms and contracts without reading all of the fine print like I normally do. I nodded and smiled and made small talk with various government officials. I shook hands and took pictures and read my e-mails.

I was putting some files away and getting ready to clear my desk for the day and head home when I glanced at a photo shoved to the side that had become partially hidden behind stacks of paperwork and file folders.

The photo showed me, Jake and Rachel, our arms around each others shoulders, smiling and laughing. We were probably about sixteen in the photo. It was taken in the valley the Ellimist had created to hide the free Hork-Bajir we were protecting from Visser Three's forces. We looked so different back then.

I could hardly believe I was the same person.

I gently touched the glass holding the picture in place. I hadn't thought about the two of them too much lately. In fact, my giddy rush of wedding dreams and thoughts of proposals had brought about my first thoughts of Rachel in months.

I just couldn't think about her. It was too hard.

And Jake…

I sighed softly, pulling my hand away from the photo. It was hard to think about him too. I had felt so incredibly insignificant the day Jake told me to stay behind on Earth and do the work I was passionate about. Working with animals and the Hork-Bajir and helping the human civilization accept the fact that aliens really do exist.

But at the same time, I had been relieved.

I was tired of fighting. Tired of the battles, the bloodshed, and the hard choices. I was ready to be done.

And yet…

Yet there were times when I felt like there was unfinished business I should be attending to. Like I wasn't exactly where I was supposed to be, even though I told myself everyday that I was living my dream.

Ronnie had been a big help with that.

I glanced out my window, taking in the incredible view of the park. I got up and opened the window, allowing a fresh breeze to wash across my face.

I was struck with a sudden idea.

How long had it been since I had morphed? I would occasionally do it if I needed to get to a really tough spot in the forest or if an animal needed help and I wasn't able to reach them in my own human body.

But when was the last time I just grew some wings and flew? For fun?

I decided then and there that I was going to do just that. I went over to my closet and shoved some jackets and blazers aside, searching for what I knew lay discarded at the back. There it was, where I'd left it months ago. A small black leotard, like what a gymnast or a dancer would wear. Perfect for morphing. You see, when you morph, it's impossible to make the change with big, bulky clothing. For some reason, it just doesn't work, so your clothing ends up being destroyed or discarded and you end up being a totally naked human when you change back. To protect my dignity, I slipped out of the pant suit I was currently wearing and slid into the leotard.

Then, for the first time in a long time, I started to morph.

Within seconds, the change was complete, and I had become an osprey, a bird of prey. I flitted up to the windowsill and looked out at the miles and miles of forests and mountains, my osprey eyes seeing every little detail splayed out before me in magnificent high-def vision.

I spread my wings and took flight.

**Chapter Three**

After my flight, I was feeling more nostalgic than ever.

As I drove home my thoughts returned once again to Jake, Rachel and the other Animorphs. It had been six months since Jake told me about his mission to steal a experimental Yeerk craft and head off into space to find Ax. Most of the world had accepted the fact that the famous Jake the Yeerk Killer was gone forever.

I was starting to wonder if it was really true.

Part of me thought that if they were really all dead, I would somehow know. That I would have a feeling deep in my gut, or that maybe even the Ellimist would show up out of the blue like he always did and tell me the news.

But nothing like that ever happened.

And so I lived my life.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and hummed along to some Top 40 hit that was playing on the radio, not even really paying attention to what it was but simply going along with it out of habit.

My cell phone began to vibrate in the center console. I glanced at the screen and saw that it was Ronnie calling. I activated the phone sync option in the car and answered the call on speaker phone.

"Hey there, Wonder Woman," Ronnie said.

That was his nickname for me. Funny, huh? I told you about the superhero thing. Ronnie practically worshipped me as a hero. I knew that he would do anything for me. He really loved me. And I loved him.

"I'm on my way home, now," I told him, turning the radio off. "I can't wait for our dinner tonight."

"Me neither," Ronnie said, sounding excited. "I'll pick you up at seven. You should wear that blue dress you bought last year for that gala we went to."

"The blue dress?" I asked, scoffing. "You know how I feel about wearing fancy clothes like that. It's not my thing. It was hard enough switching from flannel shirts and coveralls to pant suits and blazers."

Ronnie laughed. "But you look so beautiful in it."

I felt my cheeks go warm.

"Okay, flattery will get you just about anywhere," I murmured, caving in. How was it that Ronnie was the only person on this planet that could get me to be a girly girl? Rachel used to be able to convince me now and then to do something special with my hair or wear something besides dirty jeans.

"I'll see you at seven, Wonder Woman," Ronnie replied, ending the call.

I disconnected the phone, still smiling. I glanced at myself in the rear view mirror. I couldn't believe I was actually smiling like this. I was happy. I hadn't been truly happy in years.

Maybe this was a good sign. It was a new beginning.

As I turned into my driveway, Yeerks and Andalites and morphing and wars were the farthest thing from my mind. I was one step closer from leaving Cassie the Animorph behind forever and just being me. Just Cassie.

But then I saw the black SUV sitting in front of my house.

And the two men in dark suits and sunglasses leaning against it.

Waiting for me.

I felt a cold lump begin to form in my stomach. Like a lead ball had suddenly been dropped down my gullet.

I had a bad feeling about this. Something told me this wasn't going to go well.

**Chapter Four**

I exited my car and clicked the key lock, hearing the familiar BEEP as all of the doors locked. I stuffed the keys in my purse as I approached the SUV. The two men in suits shifted on their feet, taking notice of my arrival.

"Cassie?" one of the men asked, tipping his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. He had deep brown eyes that looked hardened and jaded. As if he'd seen quite a bit in his time. The other man watched impassively next to him, arms folded across his barrel chest. He was practically bursting from his suit, his muscles were so large.

"We both know you already know who I am," I replied.

The smaller man with the dark eyes nodded succinctly.

"I'm Agent Weathers, this is Agent Stine," the man said, jerking a thumb at the hulking mass of a man next to him.

"What do you want?" I asked guardedly. I didn't mean to sound so rude. I'm normally quite pleasant and friendly. But something about these two just struck me as strange and off-putting. I decided to re-phrase. "I mean, what brings you here?"

"We've been sent to collect you," Agent Weathers replied.

"Collect?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "What does that mean?"

"You'll get all of the answers you need after you come with us," Agent Stine spoke up, his voice unsurprisingly rough and gravelly.

"Why don't you just tell me now?" I challenged. "Besides, I can't go anywhere with you right now. I have plans this evening."

"You'll have to cancel," Weathers said stiffly.

"Pardon me if this sounds rude, but I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere with you," I said as bravely as I could. I'm not really one for a confrontation. I've always been more of a pacifist. But that doesn't mean I won't come out swinging when backed into a corner. I was an Animorph, after all.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Weathers replied, shrugging. "Your presence has been requested at a top secret meeting concerning matters of intergalactic security."

"Intergalactic security?" I echoed, completely confused.

"We need you to come with us," Stine intoned, moving towards me. "There isn't any time to waste. Please cooperate."

"If you know who I am, you know what I can do," I said to the two agents. "I could just morph into a bird and fly away from you before you could even think about catching up with me."

"You could," Agent Weathers said, tilting his head in agreement. "But then you'd never get the chance to hear about what your old friends have been up to."  
>Old friends?<p>

He was talking about Jake, and the others. Marco. Tobias.

"Where are they? Are they alive?" I asked hurriedly.

"Come with us," Stine repeated. "You'll be given all of the necessary information. I promise you."

I wavered. What could I do? If there was something going on with Jake and the others, I had to know about it. I was given my chance six months ago to join Jake's crazy mission, but I was sidelined.

Maybe this was my chance to do something.

I suddenly realized I had been right. I had been missing out on what I was always meant to be doing. Like I said, I am an Animorph, after all.

"Fine," I relented. "I'll come with you. But I have to make a call first."

I hoped Ronnie would forgive me for this.

**Chapter Five**

For reasons I'm still not quite sure about to this day, I lied to Ronnie.

I told him there was an emergency meeting at the park and that I was needed and that it was going to be a long night. I told him I was going to have to miss dinner. He was disappointed, but understood. He was good about those sorts of things. He understood that I had an important job and that a lot of people relied on me.

I felt terrible.

I sat in the backseat of the SUV as Agents Weathers and Stine rode in the front, maneuvering the vehicle through the city towards parts unknown. It was mostly silent. I kept to my own thoughts, running over hundreds of scenarios in my head. I wondered what I was going to find out.

I couldn't contain the swell of hope that had begun to grow within my heart.

If I was being taken somewhere to be debriefed about the other Animorphs and possibly even their whereabouts, that meant it was likely they were still alive. I tried to curb the feeling, tried to stay grounded in reality. I had to prepare myself for the potential reality that they could be dead.

Jake had said the mission would be incredibly risky and potentially deadly.

That's why he had so vehemently wanted me to stay behind.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked, breaking the silence. Agent Weathers looked at me in the rear view mirror from the drivers seat. He had removed his sunglasses while driving and I could see directly into his eyes. They say the eyes are the windows of the soul. If so, Agent Weathers most certainly had the curtains drawn, because I couldn't see a thing within his eyes. He was completely and utterly guarded, his emotions carefully concealed.

"That information is need-to-know only," he replied.

"Well, I need to know," I insisted. "I don't think I need to remind you, but technically I outrank any government agent within this country."

I'm not the type to throw my weight around. That was usually more Jake and Rachel's territory. But I was feeling on edge.

"No, you don't need to remind us," Stine said gruffly, sounding very upset with this fact. "But I think you should just see this for yourself."

I didn't respond. I simply stared out the window next to me, watching the city melt away and turn into wide open countryside. We were heading out into the middle of nowhere. Soon, we'd be in the desert.

Perhaps it was some sort of military base?

Three hours later, we approached a fence that seemed to stretch for miles in all directions. A gate with a security booth was built into it. Weathers drove up to the security checkpoint and flashed his credentials. Within seconds, we were admitted, and he began to drive down a bumpy service road.

Up ahead I saw a cluster of nondescript buildings all clumped together forming some sort of compound. We were driving straight towards it. I noticed other SUVs and government vehicles parked outside the buildings.

Weathers brought the SUV to a stop in front of the closest building, the largest of them all. It was the size of an airport hangar with huge rolling service doors big enough for a semi or a plane to drive through.

We exited the vehicle and began to approach the building.

I began to feel a familiar feeling inside. My senses twitched and tingled. I wondered if this was some sort of trap. Maybe I was walking into a really messed up situation. What if I was being kidnapped or captured?

I forced myself to calm down.

I wasn't in danger anymore. The Yeerks were gone, defeated. Visser Three was rotting away in an Andalite created prison. There were no more enemies left. I was safe now. But then why couldn't I shake the feeling that I was about to walk into a terrible maelstrom of danger and darkness?

Weathers and Stine lead the way towards one of the massive entrances into the building and I followed along behind, feeling exposed and helpless. I felt the sudden urge to morph into something dangerous, like a wolf or a polar bear. Something that could really do some damage if needed.

I really had learned a thing or two from Rachel, after all.

"Welcome to DIODE," Agent Weathers said, motioning towards the inside of the building. I walked inside and gasped.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.


	2. Chapters 6 through 10

**Chapter Six**

I stood there, slack-jawed, completely in awe of the sight before me. I had not been expecting this in the least.

Sitting before me, filling almost half of the entire hangar was the dome section of an Andalite Dome ship. A dozen Andalites were grazing and running around through the strange, blue-green grass that grows on the Andalite planet. Various parts and pieces of other spaceships were scattered around the rest of the space. I recognized the hull of a Yeerk Bug Fighter, remnants of an Andalite starfighter and what I believed was a Skrit Na ship, very much resembling a UFO from a 50's B-movie.

"What is this place?" I mumbled.

I vaguely remembered Agent Weathers saying a word as he ushered me into the complex, but I couldn't recall exactly what it was. I was too busy being flabbergasted by the overabundance of alien spacecraft lying before me. Not to mention the herd of Andalites within their dome.

"This is the storage chamber of DIODE," Weathers explained, waving his arm before him as if to display the scene.

"DIODE? What is that?" I asked.

"Department of Interstellar Operations and Defense of Earth," Stine supplied in his monotone gravelly voice.

"I see why you shortened it," I muttered.

"We are a covert faction of the US government," Weathers explained. "Highly classified. Not even the CIA knows we exist. We're completely off the grid. The President is kept abreast of our affairs, but that's about the extent of it. We monitor the galaxy along with help from the Andalites."

"How long has this been here?" I asked, completely shocked. I had wondered if our government would ever capitalize on the fact that we now knew for sure just how populated our universe truly was, but I had never expected something like this.

"We began operations almost six months after the Yeerk war ended," Stine replied roughly. "I was in General Doubleday's squad that day."

"He never lets us forget it, either," Weathers said in a stage whisper.

"Watch it, agent," Stine warned, almost growling.

I was wondering what all of this had to do with me. How did this have anything to do with Jake and the others? Had DIODE found out some information about Ax and the Blade ship they had gone after?

I voiced these concerns to the agents.

"We're putting together a team," Weathers explained.

"A team for what?" I asked, a feeling of dread growing within me. I was starting to not like where this was going. I added, "And if you say that it's 'need-to-know', so help me, I will probably have to punch you."

"So feisty," Weathers cracked. "I thought you were the peaceful Animorph?"

"I've changed," I said simply.

"Meet the team first," Weathers reasoned. "I believe you already know one of them."

We began walking further into the storage hangar. I kept glancing at the Andalites grazing within their dome. It felt like I was looking through a window into another world. In some ways, I was. The domes are designed to be an exact replica of the Andalite home world.

We made our way to the rear of the building, passing by shelves upon shelves of equipment. A tall, shadowy figure was working at a table that was completely loaded down with weapons of all kinds, from human to alien in design. I took in the rough, leather skin, the razor sharp blades protruding from every limb and tail.

A Hork-Bajir!

What was a Hork-Bajir doing way out here…?

The snake-like alien, all seven feet of it, turned to face me. If I wasn't mistaken, it was smiling, though I think it might be very difficult for a creature with a serrated beak to smile. But nevertheless the Hork-Bajir's eyes lit up at the sight of me.

"Cassie!" the alien cried excitedly.

Then it dawned on me just who this was.

"Oh my God," I cried. "Toby, I can't believe it's you!"

If I wasn't sure I would be completely eviscerated, I could have hugged her.

**Chapter Seven**

Toby nodded her head to me, as if bowing.

"It is so good to see you, Cassie," Toby said very graciously. I hadn't seen Toby in over a year. She had grown so much since I had last seen her! Toby is what the Hork-Bajir people refer to as a Seer. Every generation or so produces one. You see, the Hork-Bajir as a species are generally not the brightest bulbs.

They have a lot of heart and they are quite peaceful, docile creatures, despite their fearsome appearance. But once in a great while, a special Hork-Bajir is born with an extremely advanced mind, and they are regarded as almost a messiah amongst their people. A leader, an advisor and a sage.

Toby is one of those.

She was also the very first Hork-Bajir to be born into freedom after we rescued her parents from Visser Three so many years ago and began to form an entire colony of free Hork-Bajir, with help from the Ellimist.

"It's good to see you, too, Toby," I agreed.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Stine said uncomfortably, letting his words trail off into silence.

"Yes, let's move along," Agent Weathers agreed.

"Have you been here a long time?" I asked Toby, completely ignoring the two agents. "Last I heard, you were working with Congress on establishing rights for the free Hork-Bajir on Earth."

"Yes, that was quite the project," Toby sighed. "We are still working on it. But this organization contacted me a few months ago. They know of my involvement in the Yeerk war and that I assisted you and the other Animorphs in the final battle against Visser Three. I believe they expect that experience to be useful to them."

"Why do they need us?" I asked. "They seem to have everything under control."

"If you'd just come with us," Weathers said, rather curtly, "you will understand."

"Okay, fine," I relented. "Let's go."

The agents led Toby and I further into the hanger, where I could see what appeared to be an office tucked in the corner. There was a large picture window made of plexi-glass but the shades were drawn, so I couldn't see inside. Stine opened the door to the office with a keycard he produced from inside his jacket. He held the door open, motioning for us to enter.

Toby had to stoop down to half her height to enter. I carefully followed behind, making sure to dodge her bladed tail as it swung dangerously before me.

Inside, there was a long boardroom table with chairs lined up on either side. Occupying three of the chairs were three young men in casual clothing, each busying themselves with one thing or another.

There was a preppy sort of looking guy with bushy blond hair and wide, blue eyes who was reading a book on quantum physics. A muscular, beefy looking frat-boy type was texting somebody on his iPhone. And sitting at the far end of the table was a young man with dark hair and eyes, quietly staring down at his feet.

They all looked up at our arrival, stirring in their seats.

"Woah," the preppy guy murmured at the sight of Toby. It can be quite alarming to see a giant serpentine creature covered in blades coming towards you. They look like a demon straight out of hell. It's strange to think of such a horrifying creature only wanting to live its life in trees stripping bark to eat. They're practically as cuddly as Koala bears, the Hork-Bajir.

I should know, I've been a Koala bear.

"Gentlemen," Agent Weathers said, addressing the assembled guys. All three of them stood to face us. "This is Cassie the Animorph and Toby Hamee of the Hork-Bajir Freedom Colony."

The geeky looking blond guy's face became even more pale than he already was.

"Animorph?" he choked out.

"It's okay," I assured him. "I'm the nice one."

"Awesome," the frat boy type drawled. He had a bit of a Southern accent.

"What exactly is this all about?" the quiet guy asked from the other end of the room. His voice was very quiet and meek, but I noticed that he didn't quiver or tremble. Most people totally lost it when they were around me, especially if there was an alien around, like Toby.

The world is still getting used to the weirdness I've been exposed to for years.

"You've all been selected," Weathers explained, looking at each one of us as he spoke. "For various reasons, of course. Some of you for your experience in battle, some for your abilities. We are putting a mission together. A very secret, important mission."

"What is the mission?" I asked, hating to be left in suspense.

"We've found the _Rachel_," Weathers informed us.

**Chapter Eight**

The room was filled with silence.

"The what now?" the frat boy asked.

"Rachel was one of the Animorphs," the geeky blond supplied. He glanced over at me, looking extremely guilty. "You probably knew that."

"It's okay," I said gently.

"Not Rachel, the _Rachel_," Agent Stine corrected. "A spacecraft. It was an experimental Yeerk cruiser stolen from the government two years ago by Jake Berenson, Marco Lopez, Tobias Fangor and three of their associates."

"They named the ship after Rachel?" I asked softly. "How do you know that? Where's Jake? Are they alive? Where is the ship? How did it get back on Earth?"

"One mystery at a time, Cassie," Weathers said quietly.

"These are my friends!" I protested, balling my fists.

"I thought she said she was the nice one?" the frat boy muttered to the other two guys standing there.

I rounded on him, getting angrier.

"You!" I cried. "What's your name?"

"Cooper," he replied, bottom lip trembling.

I stalked over to him, pointing at his chest. It was actually sort of funny when you took a step back and looked at the big picture. This guy was easily two hundred and fifty pounds and six foot two. I'm ninety pounds dripping wet and just barely five feet tall. And yet I was intimidating him.

"Cooper," I said softly but tersely, "You have no idea what I have gone through. What my friends and I have done. For you, for this planet. For all I know, my friends could be dead. Show some respect."

Cooper was completely silent, his cheeks reddening.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking away from me.

I turned back to Weathers and Stine, glaring at them expectantly. Neither one of them flinched at my little outburst. I wasn't surprised. Weathers had the sense of humor of a steel pipe and Stine was a living statue.

"Now tell me," I said evenly. "Where are my friends?"

"We've detected remnants of power signatures from the _Rachel_," Stine informed the group. "It appears to be deep within the Pacific Ocean. Our Andalite allies have been using what Yeerk technology we have available to us to hack into its space logs. That's how we found out what the crew named the vessel. We don't know what they encountered on their mission or where they are now. But we have not detected any DNA from inside the ship."

"So they could still be alive," I pressed.

"One step at a time," Weathers said, holding a hand up as if to silence me. He then motioned to Cooper and the other two guys standing with us. The dark-haired boy with the circles under his eyes kept glancing nervously at Toby's long, bladed tail. Toby stood impassively, silent and watching. Did she know more than I did? It seemed as if she had already been here for some time.

"We haven't made proper introductions," Weathers continued. He pointed at the hot-headed frat boy. "You've already met Cooper. The brainiac standing right over there is Justin, and the quiet guy in the back is Oliver."

"Nice to meet you," Justin said lamely, waving half-heartedly.

"Great, now we're all one big happy family," Cooper growled, likely still nursing his abused ego after being publicly berated by a perfect stranger, let alone a globally recognized war hero. Who just also happens to be a girl.

"You mentioned a mission," I said, trying to get back on track.

"Yes," Stine said, nodding. "We want you to retrieve the _Rachel_. We'll have a team standing by to help you escort the craft back to base, but we need to get the ship out of the ocean…well, quietly. And off the books."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Because what we're going to do next is highly illegal," Weathers said. There was a hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth. I recognized that look. That look of danger mixed with a sick sort of pleasure. Rachel used to wear it all the time, usually before we were all about to commit some death-defying mission.

"What do you mean by 'off the books'?" Oliver asked softly.

"We can't just send a crew down into the ocean," Stine explained. "It would be too visible. The _Rachel_ is in international waters, so we have no jurisdiction there. We need to act off the grid. Get creative."

"You're talking about morphing," I deduced, finally understanding. "You want me to morph to some animal that can get the _Rachel_ out of the ocean."

"Not just you," Weathers said, shaking his head.

I turned and glanced at the three guys I had just met. They all looked back at me with blank looks on their faces. No. No, he couldn't possibly mean…

"Oh, man," I murmured.

This was not going to go well.

**Chapter Nine**

Two minutes later, I had excused myself from the office.

Toby had followed along behind me, leaving Weathers and Stine behind to baby-sit the newbies.

"What do you think, Cassie?" Toby asked.

"I think, as Marco would say, this is totally insane," I responded, sighing.

"Yes, yes he would say that," Toby agreed, nodding.

I rubbed my temples with both hands, massaging away a quickly approaching migraine. I couldn't believe all of this was happening. I thought that my life as an Animorph was over. The day Jake left, I just assumed that my responsibility as an Animorph had left with him. Part of me believed that it was all over. Now, here I was, about to lead a mission of completely new and untrained morphers.

"Did the Andalites sanction the use of the Escafil Device?" I asked. That is the name of the blue cube that gives the morphing power. It is a very powerful Andalite invention and was highly coveted by Visser Three and his Yeerk army. I always got a bad taste in my mouth whenever I thought about the blue box. It had always been nothing but trouble for us, especially me.

First, the night we first became Animorphs and entered into this insane life. Secondly, when we decided to make a sixth Animorph and let David use the device. David was a kid who had found the box in the construction site where Elfangor died and decided to auction it off online. The Yeerks found him immediately, of course and his parents were taken away. Infested.

We took pity on him, and let him join our fight. Only David couldn't handle it and he turned on us. He went mad with the power and tried to kill us. I ended up coming up with the idea to force him to morph into a rat and make it so he passed the two hour limit, making him a _nothlit_. Trapped forever in the morph.

Then the night we led the auxiliary Animorphs into their first mission. We'd been in the final stages of the war and we decided to add more members to strengthen our ranks. We used the device on disabled kids our age, knowing that they wouldn't be Controllers as their bodies would not be desirable hosts for a Yeerk. There was a confrontation with the Yeerks. Jake was ready to kill his brother, Tom, a high ranking Controller.

But I stopped him. Tom got away with the blue box. Because of me.

I don't think Jake ever truly forgave me for that, even if he later said he did.

So as you can see, I have a very torrid history with that box.

"They have already used it on me," Toby informed me.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. I was starting to become numb to this constant barrage of bombshell after bombshell.

"You can morph now?" I said, dumbfounded.

Toby nodded. A bizarre action to see a Hork-Bajir do. It's bizarre to see a Hork-Bajir do anything, really.

"I have been training here at DIODE," she said. "I have gotten quite skilled. The Andalites stationed here have been helping me. They tell me I am what they call an _estreen_. That means I am-"

"A natural morpher," I finished, smiling despite myself.

"Of course, you know that," Toby conceded, smiling a Hork-Bajir smile.

"I don't know if I can do this, Toby," I admitted, leaning against the wall behind me. Toby moved closer to me and when I looked up, I noticed that she was…melting. No, that isn't right.

She was morphing.

Her features were shifting and changing. Softening. I stood, transfixed, and watched as her skin turned from hard, rubbery leather to soft, alabaster skin. Her horns deflated, drooping down and becoming thick, luxurious hair. She shrank down from seven feet tall to about five and a half feet. Within about a minute, she was fully transformed and had become a beautiful young woman with wavy brown hair and the most sparkly green eyes I'd ever seen.

"Wow, Toby," I said in a hushed voice. "That was amazing!"

"I wish to comfort you, Cassie," Toby said, her voice soft and lilting. "I am not able to do this properly in my own body."

I was speechless. In that moment, everything I had been holding in came rushing out of me. All of the emotions I had been keeping in check, all of the feelings I had been bottling up inside. It all came out, the dam broken.

I began to cry, unabashedly, and Toby took me into her arms, cradling my face in the crook of her neck. I held onto her shoulders, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Thank you, Toby," I murmured between my tears. "Thank you."

**Chapter Ten**

A few minutes later, I had managed to pull myself together. Toby showed me where the restroom was and I got myself cleaned up. While I padded my cheeks with a warm, wet cloth, she told me about the morphing training she'd been going through with the Andalites.

I stared at myself in the mirror.

"Are we really going to do this?" I asked her.

"We must," Toby replied. "I deeply respect Jake and the other Animorphs. Especially Tobias. He is almost like a father figure to me. He helped my people to be free. If there is a chance that he is out there somewhere, alive, and we can help him, as well as the others, we must."

"You're right," I said softly, nodding fervently. "Of course you're right."

"Are you worried about the mission?" Toby asked.

I turned to face her, leaning against the sink counter. It was so strange standing here chatting with this girl who only minutes ago had been a hulking, reptilian alien covered in blades and horns. Like we were just two girlfriends chatting about our boyfriends in the restroom, like two normal people.

"Not exactly," I said, wringing my hands together. "I mean, yes. Those guys in there are…well, to call them amateurs would be an understatement."

"They were chosen," Toby said simply, shrugging. "They must be competent in some way, or else they wouldn't be here. This is not a combat mission, anyway. It's a simple relay mission. We go out to the ocean, collect the _Rachel_ and we come back. Simple as that."

"One thing you learn as an Animorph is that things are never simple," I told her.

"Do you expect danger?" Toby asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Expect the unexpected," I said, hugging myself tightly. "Pretty wise words to live by if you're going to be getting involved in the Animorph business."

"I am not an Animorph," Toby clarified. "That is a human term."

"You know what I mean," I said, chuckling.

"Don't you want to get answers?" Toby asked directly. I was slightly taken aback by how forward she was. I suppose there is no such thing as a subtle Hork-Bajir. They're about as subtle as a chainsaw.

"I do," I said, nodding, "but I would feel a whole lot better if we weren't going deep into the ocean with a bunch of brand new morphers."

"Then perhaps we should let them practice," Toby suggested.

"What will they practice morphing?" I asked.

A beak began to protrude from Toby's face, her lips fusing together and pushing outward, becoming sharp and serrated. She shot up into the air, growing two feet taller. Blades pushed out of her skin as if she were being eviscerated from the inside out. Moments later she was crouching before me in her natural form.

"They can acquire me," she said.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," I replied, feeling uneasy. We had made the decision long ago that we would never morph sentient beings. It just seemed wrong. Granted, we had been given permission in the past when it had been absolutely necessary, and we had morphed to other humans before…

Still, it just didn't seem right.

But Toby made a good point. Justin, Oliver and Cooper were going to need to get some practice morphing if they were going to be completely effective with us on this mission. You have to get used to controlling the instincts of the animal that you morph into. If you don't, the instincts will get the best of you and you can get completely lost in the morph.

"I guess it's morphing time, then," I said.

This was going to be interesting.


	3. Chapters 11 through 15

**Chapter Eleven **

As Stine explained how the morphing power worked to Justin, Oliver and Cooper, Toby and I stood aside with Weathers, who seemed to be more open to communication. He may have been completely without humor, or at the very least, a total jerk, but at least he would come back with more than a grunt as a response.

"Why didn't you pull from the classes Jake was training on morphing?" I asked him, nodding my head towards the trio, who were just now placing their palms on the smooth, shiny sides of the Escafil Device. Or a Escafil Device. It was very likely not the exact same one I had touched so many years ago in that abandoned construction site. "It would seem to make more sense, getting people already trained."

"Because those classes have been shut down and ordered under investigation by the government ever since Jake and his cohorts stole a Yeerk spacecraft and broke Andalite space treaties to go where no man has gone before," Weathers replied coolly.

"Space treaty?" I asked.

"The Andalites are not permitted to enter Kelbrid space under any circumstances due to a treaty that was drawn up long ago," Weathers explained to me. I had never heard of the Kelbrid race before now. Ax had never mentioned them to us. But then, had there ever really been a reason to? "From what I am able to piece together between what we pulled off the _Rachel_'s ship logs and from rumors at the base they stole the craft from, Jake convinced an Andalite soldier to permanently morph to human so he could guide them into Kelbrid space undetected and not break the treaty."

That sounded like something Jake would do. Not the Jake I knew from back in junior high school, the Jake I had a huge secret crush on and fantasized about in home room. The hardened warrior, Jake the Yeerk Killer, the unfeeling, calculating general who had sent his own cousin to her death to complete a mission - that is who would have done something like that. Just the thought of it sent shivers down my spine.

Those are the decisions you have to make as a leader, though.

"Can I speak with the Andalites?" I asked, glancing over at the massive Dome. Most of the Andalites inside it had left the dome. Only a few remained inside, running around like some bizarre herd of centaurs. "I'd like to ask them more about Kelbrid space and the treaty."

Weathers gave me a strange look.

"I'm not sure that's possible," he said slowly, looking uncomfortable.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's complicated," the agent replied guardedly.

"Just tell me." I paused, softening. "Please."

Weathers pursed his lips, glancing over at Toby. Toby had since morphed back into her own natural form and stood there silently watching our conversation unfold. She said nothing and so Weathers continued on.

"The Andalites have very mixed feelings about you, Cassie," Weathers said. "They feel that you were somehow involved in Jake's plan to enter Kelbrid space. They believe you violated the treaty. They also consider you a deserter."

"A deserter!" I cried, outraged.

"Andalites are a very proud people," Weathers said calmly. "You know that more than any of us. They are pretty stubborn, too. They have very firm beliefs and it's hard to change their minds. They know you had the chance to join the mission to rescue Prince Aximili, and you didn't go. They see that as an act of cowardice."

"But I-," I started, stuttering, choking on my words. "I…I mean, Jake…He, he said that I…"

For the first time, Weathers' facial expression softened.

"You don't have to explain, Cassie," he said quietly. I looked over and saw that Toby was busying herself with staring very intently at a small spot on the ground. It was quite strange to see a gigantic Hork-Bajir looking embarrassed. "I don't presume to know what happened between you and Jake the day he left. But I know you wouldn't be here if you didn't still want to be a part of this."

"You didn't really give me much choice," I said dryly.

At that moment, we were interrupted by the new recruits.

"Alright, we're all souped up and ready to go," Cooper said, rubbing his hands together mischievously. "Can't wait to give this morphing thing a try!"

"Don't get too excited," I said. "You have to stay calm when you morph."

"What are we going to morph?" Oliver asked.

Toby raised her hand.

"That would be me," she answered. "I give you my permission to acquire me."

"Awesome!" Cooper said under his breath.

"Yeah," I mumbled under my breath. "Awesome…"

**Chapter Twelve**

We moved outside the hangar and Agent Weathers led us to a large field out behind the compound. We figured it'd be best to let the new guys morph outside so they could have plenty of space to try out their new bodies.

"So, what do we do?" Justin asked.

The three of them were standing in a line, a few feet of space in between them. Toby, Weathers and myself were standing across from them, watching. I felt like a drill sergeant putting soldiers through boot camp. It was a rather strange sensation for me. I had been in charge of people before, sure, but I had never really been a true leader. I had made decisions, life and death decisions, but I had never felt like the general of a squad. Not like now.

It was somewhat exhilarating and nerve-wracking at the same time.

"Just imagine the creature you want to morph into," I explained, placing my hands on my hips, watching them closely. "Look deep into your mind and think about the animal. Think about its physical attributes. Imagine your own body transforming into that shape. And then, you'll start to morph."

"Sounds easy enough," Oliver said, shrugging.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. I started to say something, to give further instructions, but then I noticed the changes beginning.

Justin was the first to start changing. Morphing is always different, no matter how many times you do it. The changes always happen in a new way. Oftentimes it's quite disturbing and never looks good. Although I have been told by Ax that whenever I morph, it is quite graceful and sometimes even beautiful. There are some animals that you just can't make look beautiful though. Usually insects.

You just can't look beautiful morphing into a cockroach.

The first thing to happen was the horns. They shot out of Justin's skull with a strange cracking sound. Oliver cried out as blades began to slide out of his skin. Already all three of them began to turn a greenish-brown as their skin became the slick, scaly, leathery skin of a Hork-Bajir.

They became three mangled, half-human, half-alien shapes. Within a couple of minutes, the morph was complete and three exact replicas of Toby stood before us. They all looked back and forth at each other, testing out their new bodies.

"Take a moment to get used to the new mind," I instructed. I wondered if this was what it had been like for Jake when he was training his own recruits how to morph. "You'll feel the Hork-Bajir instincts start to bubble up within your mind. Sometimes it can rush up at you like a train. Other times they are just there, sitting in your brain. Hork-Bajir are very peaceful, so it shouldn't be too hard to get control."

((All I want to do is eat,)) Cooper said very slowly and dreamily. ((I could just sit and eat bark all day long.))

((These blades are amazing!)) Justin exclaimed, slicing the air before him.

"Be careful with those," I warned. "You could cut a limb off with those."

((Man, I wish there were still some Yeerks around,)) Cooper said, swiping his tail around like a whip. The blades whistled through the air. ((I'd love to try this tail out on them! I'd kick some Yeerk butt, man!))

"This will be a non-violent mission," Toby said. "We don't expect a battle."

((What do you mean, 'expect'?)) Justin asked. ((There's a chance we might have to fight? I thought we were just dragging a spaceship out of the ocean?))

"You are," Agent Weathers confirmed. "You don't have to worry."

"But it's always best to keep your guard up," I countered, looking at Weathers out of the corner of my eye.

((Can we change back now?)) Oliver asked. ((I want to change back now.))

"I want you to practice for awhile," I ordered. "Toby, why don't you try some sparring with them? Couldn't hurt to run through a few moves with them. What do you say?"

"Whatever you ask, Cassie," Toby said, nodding. She motioned for her three clones to follow after her, and she led them further out into the field. I watched them go off and turned to Agent Weathers.

"What's the time table on this mission?" I asked.

"We need to move quickly," Weathers replied, pulling a pair of sunglasses out of his jacket pocket. He slid them over his eyes and regarded me coolly. "We need to get the Rachel into our custody as soon as possible. The next step in the plan will have to begin quickly."

"The next step?" I asked. "What is that? You mentioned doing something that was illegal. What aren't you telling me, Weathers?"

"You're right," he said, nodding. "There's a specific reason we want to retrieve the _Rachel_, besides the obvious. We can't just leave an experimental Yeerk spacecraft lying at the bottom of the ocean. We need the final coordinates of the ship's location before it was somehow placed in the ocean."

"You mean…," I began, slowly piecing it together.

It dawned on me just as he said it out loud.

"You're going into Kelbrid territory."

**Chapter Thirteen**

I couldn't stop thinking about what Agent Weathers had said.

Did he really believe we could find Jake, Marco and Tobias somewhere out there in a distant quadrant of the galaxy? From what we could tell, the Kelbrid territory was largely uncharted and completely mysterious. Who know what sort of danger we'd be getting into. The Andalites must have created the treaty not to enter their territory for a reason.

I had to find out what it was.

Toby continued working with the new recruits and I told Weathers I was going to find the mess hall and get some food. I told him I also needed to call Ronnie. The first part was a lie. The second part was true, but I didn't know if I would actually be able to get around to that yet.

A pang of guilt stabbed at my chest.

Poor Ronnie. He had no idea what was going on. I couldn't just take off on some mission without at least talking to him. I couldn't decide how much information I was going to give him. I knew that Weathers would tell me I couldn't tell him anything. He'd already told me that DIODE operated under the radar completely. But Ronnie was my boyfriend. He could become my fiance. I couldn't lie to him.

I vowed to myself I would speak to him after I found the Andalites.

I found a few of them working on a broken down Andalite ship. They were busying themselves with advanced tools I had never seen before, sparks flying every few seconds or so.

"Hello," I said, announcing myself. I felt extremely awkward. It seemed strange to just walk up to a bunch of aliens and just say 'hello'. But what else was I going to do? I had to get their attention somehow.

One of the Andalites turned a stalk eye towards me. The other two ignored me completely, continuing about their work.

"Can I speak with you please?" I asked.

The Andalite who looked at me seemed to make an exasperated gesture to his companions. Nevertheless, he sat down the tool he was using, which somewhat resembled a blow torch, but I was sure it had to be more than that. Andalite technology, more than likely.

((Hello, Cassie,)) the Andalite said, bowing slightly out of respect.

"No fair," I said, smiling slightly. "You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. I guess that's what happens when you become an intergalactic celebrity."

((Yes, I know you,)) the Andalite replied succinctly. ((My name is Erriss-Semitur-Fallinan.))

"Thank you for speaking to me," I said politely. I still didn't understand why the Andalites felt so coldly towards me. I wasn't sure if it was just the Andalites allied with DIODE or if it was the Andalite race as a whole. I'm not sure I really even cared. Let them think I was a coward if that made them feel better about themselves. I knew the truth. I knew why I hadn't gone with Jake that day.

((I am compelled by the DIODE treaty to do so,)) Erriss replied.

"I see," I mumbled, feeling even more awkward. I cleared my throat. "I need you to tell me what you can about the Kelbrid."

All four of Erriss's eyes widened.

((Why do you speak of the Kelbrid?)) he demanded. ((We are to never speak of such things! It is an Andalite offense.))

"Who are they?" I pressed. "Why are you so afraid of them?"

The fur on the back of Erriss's neck bristled.

((I am not afraid,)) he said coldly. ((I am simply following Andalite laws.))

"I thought you just weren't allowed to enter their space," I asked. "I didn't think there was anything wrong with talking about them."

((The Kelbrid are an affront to nature,)) Erriss replied, tapping his front hooves. ((Not much is known of their physiological makeup. They have never been seen by a living Andalite.))

"What do you mean, living?"

((During the treaty negotiations, several Andalites were slaughtered,)) Erriss said, his "voice" going low. ((The Kelbrid had already completely decimated several planets. They brought them to ruins. Everything was killed. They annihilated every living thing in their path. They left a trail of pain and blood in their wake.))

I whistled, low. These Kelbrid sounded terrible. Even worse than Yeerks.

"So you don't even know what they look like?" I asked.

((There are rumors,)) Erriss said, his stalk eyes swaying back and forth. I had learned that was an Andalite motion that equated to shrugging your shoulders. ((No one knows for sure. Some of our scientists have discovered Kelbrid DNA here and there and have attempted to study it. Nothing conclusive has ever come of it.))

I could tell that I wasn't going to get anymore information out of Erriss. One of his stalk eyes kept glancing over at the ship his comrades were still busying themselves with. I know they had been paying very close attention to our entire conversation, however, by the fact that they hadn't actually continued working in any real way, just going through the motions.

"Thank you for speaking to me," I said, nodding.

Erriss risked one last glance at his fellow Andalites.

((I will only tell you one last thing,)) Erriss intoned, focusing all four eyes on me at once. A rare thing for an Andalite to do. I had a feeling he was using private thought speech because the other Andalites had no reaction. ((Do not go in search of the Kelbrid. It will surely not end well for you.))

I wondered if that was a warning…or a threat.

**Chapter Fourteen**

We needed morphs to complete the mission and I told Weathers that I knew the perfect place for us to go. He arranged a helicopter to transport us. It wouldn't be a very long trip, but Toby had to morph into her human form in order to provide some measure of discretion. It would beg too many questions from the public if a Hork-Bajir was spotted flying around in a government issued helicopter.

Three hours and one re-morph for Toby later, we arrived at The Gardens.

It had been over a year since I had last been here. My mother used to be the head veterinarian there. The Animorphs had used it as a popular location for getting more exotic morphs we couldn't find in our neighborhood or at my family's Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic.

The Gardens is an amusement park and a zoo spliced together. It features tons of animal exhibits from all over the world. The perfect place to find powerful morphs. Also one of the only places I could think of that would have the animal we were looking for.

"I came here once when I was little," Oliver said, looking out the window of the helicopter. His voice was barely audible through the headphones we were all wearing to communicate with each other. "I would always watch the wolves."

"Nice choice," I smirked. The wolf was always my favorite battle morph.

"What are we going to acquire?" Justin asked.

"You'll see," I told him, grinning despite myself. "I remembered reading about a new exhibit they just got. It's an endangered species. They're working on repopulating the species, with the help of the people here at The Gardens."

The helicopter zoomed over the park, and far down below us there was a massive pool that had newly been constructed. It was surrounded by jutting rocks and cliffs, giving it the look of an oceanside bluff. I had no idea just how deep the water was, but judging by the size of the animal inside, it must have been at least fifty feet deep. The pool was roughly the size of two football fields.

Not nearly large enough for such a majestic creature, but it sure beat extinction.

The blue whale broke the surface of the pool, spouting a tower of expelled air and water from its blowhole that rose nearly ten feet in the air.

"Wow," Cooper breathed.

"That's our morph," I told them, gazing down at the animal below us.

"It's huge!" Justin cried. "I can't imagine being something that big."

"The wonders of Andalite technology," I said, shrugging. I motioned to the pilot and circled my fingers around, signaling for a landing. He lowered the bird down as carefully as possible, bringing us down in a flat area just behind the whale's habitat, out of sight from the public.

Our cover story was that I was part of the breeding team and I was working with the park on repopulating the whale's numbers. The others were my team. With my connections to the park and my place as a figurehead in environmental science and safety, I was sure we wouldn't encounter any problems with the park's staff.

"We have to touch it, right?" Oliver asked, sounding nervous. "I mean, in order to acquire it, we have to touch the animal?"  
>"That's right," I said as the helicopter's rotors came to a whining stop.<p>

"Which means we have to get in the water?" Oliver pressed.

"Exactly," I agreed.

"Now might be a bad time to tell you that I'm sort of afraid of water," he mumbled, staring down at his feet.

I laid a hand on his knee.

"You'll be fine," I said in as comforting a voice as I could. I was reminded of Tobias and how terrified he was to acquire a dolphin. Hawks aren't exactly big fans of the water. For understandable reasons. "I'll walk you through it, step by step. Whales are like giant cows. They're totally harmless unless provoked."

"Won't five people poking it provoke it?" Cooper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll acquire it first," I told them. "It usually puts the animal into a peaceful, almost dream-like state for a minute or two. That should give you all plenty of time to get in, acquire it, and get out."

"What about her?" Justin asked, pointing at Toby. She was beginning to morph back into her natural Hork-Bajir body.

"Toby will go first, right after me," I decided. "That way she can quickly acquire the whale and get out of the pool and morph into human again."

"I understand," Toby said.

"Alright," I said, feeling more excited than I had in awhile. "Let's go swim with the whales!"

**Chapter Fifteen**

I won't bore you with the details, but we successfully acquired the blue whale. It was tricky getting Toby close enough to the whale, but as I had predicted, once I acquired the animal, it became completely still, in a trance-like state. The boys were easier, but Oliver needed some coaxing to get in with the whale.

Within twenty minutes or so, we had all acquired the whale and, dripping wet, went back to our hiding place behind the habitat near the helicopter.

"That was awesome." Cooper said, exhilarated.

"Yes, it kind of was," I agreed. Maybe Cooper wasn't so bad after all. He was a nice enough guy. He could be a bit of a doofus, but he was a good guy. They all were. Even Oliver, who barely ever spoke. I hoped that I wasn't leading them into danger. I don't know what I would do if any of them were to get hurt.

I walked over to Oliver, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you say we go visit the wolves?" I asked. There was a glimmer of excitement in his eyes and I could tell the jarring adventure of diving with whales was now suddenly behind him.

That's how we found ourselves in the back corridor leading to the employee feeding area of the wolf habitat. Lucky for us, one of the wolves was being treated by a staff member. It had gotten a piece of glass stuck in its paw. Some jerk visiting the park had probably thrown a beer bottle into the habitat.

I asked the staff member if I could help. She immediately recognized me and gushed at me for a few moments before rushing off to, according to her, update her Twitter account. I could barely contain my eye roll.

However, it left us alone with the wolf, which was already sedated. Its eyes were glassy and half-closed. I patted the thick, matted fur around its neck, smoothing it down and staring into its eyes.

"Hey there, buddy," I whispered. "Is it okay if I introduce you to a few of my friends?"

I motioned for Cooper, Justin and Oliver to approach me.

Despite the wolf being under sedation, they were still hesitant. It's not everyday you walk up to a wolf and start petting it. I had been a wolf, many times, and being as comfortable with animals as I am, it felt completely normal to me.

One by one, each guy acquired the wolf, allowing its DNA to merge with their own. Toby had no need to acquire it, seeing as her own body was strong and deadly enough for just about any battle.

"We should get you a few more basic morphs," I told them. "Come on, I know just where to go."

Several hours later, loaded up with the necessary morphs, we headed back to the awaiting helicopter. The boys couldn't stop talking to each other about their experiences at the park and how awesome it had been acquiring all of the animals. As they chattered, Toby sat in silence, contemplating her own thoughts and likely mentally preparing herself for the upcoming mission.

I couldn't help but think about the times when we used to come here and acquire new morphs for Animorph missions. We had just been kids. We didn't really know what we were doing. Well, Jake may have known. He'd grown up so quickly once the war with the Yeerks began. We all had, but it was the most obvious with Jake.

Here I was thinking about Jake again.

It couldn't be helped. I couldn't stop thinking about whether or not he was still alive. What if I was truly the last Animorph left alive?

Original Animorph, anyway. I supposed now there was Justin, Cooper and Oliver. But they were poor substitutes for the originals.

I realized that it had been hours since I last spoke with Ronnie. I hoped he hadn't given up on me. I felt horrible for bailing on him with no notice, but this was something that couldn't be ignored.

I had to believe he would understand. In the end, he would realize that what I was doing was necessary. He knew all about my experiences as an Animorph and just how close we all were. Especially Jake.

I took the opportunity to text Ronnie. I told him that I was working on a government project. True. I told him I had been selected for a special mission. Also true. I told him I would be gone for awhile and that I would let him know as soon as I was able to come back home. Again, true.

I told him everything was fine and I was perfectly safe.

Lie.


	4. Chapters 16 through 20

**Chapter Sixteen**

Four hours later, we were aboard a speedboat racing out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Sprays of mist battered my cheeks as I leaned against the side railing of the boat, gripping the steel guard with both hands. It had been a long time since I had come out into the water.

The sun was beating down on us from a clear sky up above, twinkling along the waves as they frothed and crested around us. We left a trail of waves behind us as we sped across the sea, getting closer and closer to our destination.

I felt my knees buckle slightly as the boat began to slow down.

"Are we stopping?" I called over to Weathers. He was operating the boat, Toby looming nearby him, crouching down so that she wouldn't be toppled over from the wind pushing against her large frame.

"We need to start dropping you off one by one," Weathers explained. "Once you start to morph, you're going to get large. Very large."

"Right," I agreed, nodding. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that. Of course we couldn't all just morph in a huddle mass right next to the boat. We'd each be growing to over a hundred feet long. We'd take up too much space. "Good plan."

"I will go first," Toby volunteered, edging towards the side of the boat. "I am not very comfortable with being in the water. I would like to make the change as quickly as possible."

"Good luck, Toby," I told her. I smiled, hoping she would find comfort in it.

With nary a sound, she plopped into the water, slicing through the surface like a knife, vanishing from sight. I assume she began to morph immediately and Weathers began to move the boat forward once again, pushing out another few hundred feet. In the meanwhile, the rest of us stripped out of our normal clothes, leaving only skintight body suits, like surfers or divers wear. Cooper volunteered to go next. Oliver followed suit, and a few minutes later, it was just me and Justin standing on the boat deck.

"After you," he said, bowing.

"You aren't going to chicken out, are you?" I asked. I was teasing, mostly. It was always an Animorphs tradition to tease and make jokes right before going into a mission. It's a good way to blow off steam and shake off the jitters before doing something potentially dangerous.

"No," Justin mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"It was just a joke," I assured him, patting his shoulder. Justin's cheeks turned a deep scarlet.

"I knew that," he muttered.

Then, without saying another word, he leapt over the side of the boat, splashing down into the frothing ocean below. I watched the water closely, hoping I wouldn't see him struggling to swim.

"You think they'll be okay?" I asked Weathers.

"I think that's all up to you," he said to me. He punched down the throttle and the boat began to move forward again, giving me space so I could begin my morph. I took a breath as I prepared to jump into the ocean.

((Come on in, the water's fine!)) Cooper called out in thought-speak.

Seeing as I wasn't morphed yet, I couldn't respond. You can only use thought-speak when you're in a morph. Or if you're an Andalite.

((Hey, this isn't so bad,)) Justin said.

((This form is far better suited to the environment than my own,)) Toby agreed.

"I'll be there in a minute, guys," I said to myself. I threw one last look over my shoulder and gave Weathers the thumbs up. Then I climbed up on the railing, leaping off the side of the boat. I hit the surface, sinking quickly like a bobber. I hugged my body, instantly feeling a chill from the water seeping through my body suit.

I focused on the image of the blue whale in my mind.

I instantly felt the changes begin. I suddenly doubled, tripled, no, quadrupled in size. It was like I was becoming a giant! My entire body just exploded out into a massive version of itself. I looked down at my hands through blurry, salt-stung eyes and saw that they were as big as a car hood.

My fingers fused together and began to turn into fins.

A trail of thick, rubbery gray-blue skin grew across my entire body, overtaking me like a tidal wave. My two gigantic legs became soft and sinewy, losing all of my human bones and cartilage, making way for the tail. Both my big toes began to blow up like gigantic balloons, swooping out, out, out, becoming the enormous fins on either end of my developing tail.

My mouth exploded outwards as my teeth began to grow, crunching together to fill my jaw, stretching out and becoming baleen plates. The whale would use those to sift out shrimp and plankton for food. My head began to catch up with my jaw, sprouting out larger and larger to form a U-shaped bulk where my forehead once was.

For the briefest of moments, I couldn't breath as my human lungs shut down and began to morph into the whale lungs.

Then, my blowhole appeared along my back and suddenly I had air again.

I let myself settle into the morph and found it to be a very serene, calm creature. There was a small amount of hesitation about being so close to the nearby boat. The whale mind thought it was a predator. Blue whales don't generally have much to fear in the open ocean, besides maybe a rogue killer whale brave enough to go after one. Mostly though, they are left alone by other animals.

I heard a loud booming noise coming from behind me, which swelled into a beautiful, song-like wail.

It was my family! They were coming to play with me!

I dove beneath the surface, my tail fins splaying out, splashing a wall of water twenty feet into the air.

Here they came!

Four more whales came rushing towards me to play!

Yes, it was time to play!

**Chapter Seventeen**

((This is amazing!)) Justin cried excitedly. ((I've never had so much fun in my life!))

I couldn't help but agree. I let out a trumpet of exhilaration as I dove and rose. We all bumped each other, prodding with our fins. I was so caught up in playing that I almost completely forgot what we were doing in the first place. The whale just wanted to play all day.

And eat. I was very, very hungry.

((We need to go find some food!)) I said, feeling ravenous.

((Yes, food!)) Cooper agreed.

((I'm thinking maybe we should focus,)) Toby said, trying to be the voice of reason. It all started to slowly come back to me.

The mission. The spaceship.

Jake.

((Guys, I think we might have gotten a little distracted,)) I said, feeling slightly embarrassed. I was supposed to be the pro Animorph. I was just as susceptible to losing control to the morph as the new guys, though. I had let the whale's instincts take over and distract me. ((Toby's right, we have a mission to accomplish.))

((Can we eat first?)) Oliver asked.

((Just let the whale do it's thing while we swim,)) I said, barely able to ignore the nagging feeling of hunger deep in my gut. ((Weathers estimated that with our size and typical speed, we should reach the diving coordinates in about an hour.))

We fell into a pod formation, taking off towards the coordinates.

((I will keep track of the time and distance,)) Toby volunteered. ((I am very good at keeping track of those things.))

((Thanks, Toby,)) I replied.

I felt water rushing through my gigantic teeth, catching tiny krill and plankton as we swam. I just wanted more and more and more! It was like being a Taxxon. There was an endless hunger that seemed like it could never be sated.

We pushed onward, chatting idly with each other. Toby kept quietly, mostly. She is practically a genius by any standards, but doesn't really have a lot in common with a group of young humans. I made a point to have some more alone time with her, to make her feel more comfortable.

Not that I planned on spending much more time with her after this mission was complete. Once we found Jake and the others, we'd bring them back home, and everything would be over.

No more missions. No more war.

I let myself drift off into my own thoughts for a little while. I just enjoyed the water sliding across my giant frame as I effortlessly pushed two hundred tons of muscle and bone through the ocean. It was quite amazing when you took a second to think about it. We were moving along at about thirty miles per hour. We were each the size of a freight train, barreling through the sea at top speed.

It was quite an experience.

((It has been an hour,)) Toby informed us. ((We should be approaching the coordinates now.))

((Get ready to dive, everybody,)) I instructed the group. ((We'll only have twenty minutes or so to get down, grab the ship and get back to the surface.))

((Is that enough time?)) Oliver asked, sounding worried. ((I don't want to drown out here. There's no one to rescue us.))

((You're not going to drown,)) Cooper admonished. ((Stop worrying.))

((I'll start to dive first,)) I said. ((I'll use echolocation to pin down the _Rachel_ and then you guys can follow after me. That way we'll know exactly which direction to go.))

((We will be right behind you,)) Toby said.

I took that as my cue to go and turned directions, angling my body downwards. I began to moan and roar, letting out the whale's "song", which allowed me to see what was ahead of me better. It wasn't quite sight like you are normally used to, but it wasn't like being blind either.

It was quite similar to being a dolphin. I couldn't see complete shapes and angles, but a basic picture was painted in my mind of my surroundings as the sounds bounced back and were translated by the whale brain.

After diving straight down for about five minutes, I began to make out a strange shape ahead of me, perched at the edge of a vast trench that stretched down so far, you could never begin to fathom the distance.

It was the _Rachel_!

((Got it,)) I informed the others. I felt their own songs bouncing all around me as their echolocations fired off all around me. Soon I felt their presence as the others began swimming all around me, all of us diving down at once.

I fired off another burst of song, getting a slightly clearer image of the sleek vessel perched below us. I got closer and closer, feeling my fin brush up against the cold steel of the craft. I could sense the others getting into formation around the ship. I nudged the side of the ship with one of my fins, getting into position so I could grip onto one of its wings with my massive jaws.

One of the others must have thought to do the same thing. This set the ship off balance, causing it to slip precariously close to the edge of the trench.

((Ten minutes have passed,)) Toby alerted us.

((Be careful!)) I called to the others.

((I can't get a good grip,)) Oliver said. He must have been the one on the other side of the ship. Toby, Justin and Cooper were at the rear of the craft. ((I think it's starting to slip!))

((Somebody grab on!)) I demanded.

The _Rachel_ began to slide further along the ocean floor. I felt the side of the ship slam against me. I was knocked off course, bumped sideways.

((Don't let it fall!)) I cried.

I felt a whoosh of air pressure burst against my side as the _Rachel_ began to topple into the endless trench.

It was going to fall.

((Twelve minutes,)) Toby updated the team.

We were going to run out of air.

**Chapter Eighteen**

((I've got it!)) Cooper cried in our minds. I got an updated burst of visions and saw that Cooper had lunged forward, snapping his gargantuan jaws around the tail of the spacecraft. This small purchase gave Justin and Toby enough time to latch onto their own sides. I righted myself, coming close to the side of the ship again. I grabbed onto the wing on my side as gently as I could without damaging it. I felt vibrations tremble through the metal as Oliver clamped down on his own wing.

((Sorry,)) he said softly.

((It's not your fault,)) I soothed. ((We got it. That's all that matters.))

((We have six minutes until we begin to run out of air,)) Toby said.

((Let's motor!)) Cooper said.

We all pushed, easily moving the ship up through the water with our collective girth shoving it along. I could begin to feel the whale's body start to suffer the effects of oxygen depravation. There was a distinct burning sensation that began to flare up within my enormous lungs.

I had to breathe, and soon. We were already pushing our bodies to the max, expelling a lot of energy by swimming so fast and pulling a spacecraft up to the surface at the same time.

My whale body was becoming completely exhausted.

I could sense that we were nearing the surface. We'd be able to breathe soon. Just another thousand feet or so. We'd be there in a minute or two….

I felt a burst of air and water expel from my blowhole and sweet, sweet oxygen came rushing in, filling my lungs.

It felt so good to breathe again.

((That's much better,)) Justin sighed, sounding incredibly relieved.

((We still need to get the ship back into our jurisdiction,)) Oliver reminded us. ((We're not done working, yet.))

I could only imagine how crazy this must have looked from up above. I pictured a satellite analyst somewhere monitoring the oceans, seeing a pod of blue whales escorting a Yeerk spacecraft across the surface of the Pacific.

Totally insane.

((Are we really going into Kelbrid space?)) Toby asked me. From the way she was speaking, I could tell she was directing her thought-speak only at me. I didn't know she had overheard what Agent Weathers told me about the next phase of the mission. But I should have remembered from morphing a Hork-Bajir - they have very good hearing.

((Yes,)) I replied honestly.

((Do you think we will find Tobias?)) she asked, sounding hopeful.

((I really hope so,)) I said.

((I worry about what else we might find.))

((You're not the only one.))

We swam on in silence, feeling the exhaustion from the dive and dragging the ship deep within our bodies. Cooper made a couple of jokes about blue whale delivery services. I ignored him, choosing to focus on getting this part of the mission over. But the truth of the matter was, I was dreading the next part.

I didn't like the feeling I was getting about this.

If the Andalites were too afraid to deal with the Kelbrid that they essentially gave them their own quadrant of the galaxy to do with as they pleased, how could we possibly fare against them? Toby and I were the only ones with any experience in a real battle with aliens, and even then, going up against an unknown enemy with so many variables up in the air, we were at just as much of a disadvantage as the others.

I only hoped that if there was a confrontation, that we would somehow be able to get through it peacefully. If there was anything I knew best, it was peace. I was always the empathetic one, the understanding one. I could talk to people and understand them better than anyone else.

But these Kelbrid sounded like cold-blooded killers. No conscience, no thought, no empathy. They just destroyed.

How do you make peace with a creature like that?

I suppose I was going to find out.

**Chapter Nineteen**

Soon Toby let us all know that we were fast approaching the two hour limit for morphing. Luckily we were coming up on the pick-up location we had scheduled with Weathers earlier.

As I bobbed near the surface, occasionally poking up above the waves, I could make out a hulking structure ahead of us. I couldn't make out too many details, but I could tell that it was an aircraft carrier. Two helicopters flying in tandem took off from the deck of the carrier, dangling massive pulley systems with hooks on the ends. Agents dangled from the pulleys, ready to attach the hooks to the spacecraft.

We pulled the ship as close as possible to the aircraft carrier and let the agents hanging from the helicopters do their job.

With mere minutes to spare, we all began to demorph. I immediately felt myself shrink and felt my normal limbs and organs return to their natural forms. Within about a minute I was fully human again. The others took a little bit longer as they are not as experienced with morphing.

Soon, four humans and a fully grown Hork-Bajir sat doggy paddling in the middle of the ocean, huddled closely together.

As soon as the Rachel was safely boarded onto the aircraft carrier, a helicopter came back to retrieve us one by one. We clung to the rope ladder and were carried onto the deck. Within ten minutes, we were all on board standing before the _Rachel_, still dripping from its underwater grave.

Agent Weathers came out to greet us with towels and fresh clothes for myself and the guys. Toby got a few stares from some of the agents and shipmen manning the vessel. She ignored them all. I suppose she was used to being stared at by humans by now. It didn't really seem to bother her.

"Great work," Weathers said. "Now the real fun begins."

"I'm not sure I'd classify it as fun," I countered. I still felt a heavy sense of dread in my stomach. I have never condoned fighting, unless it was necessary for survival or in order to save someone's life. I always get extremely nervous in anticipation of any kind of violence. I wasn't exactly doing cartwheels at the thought of entering the territory of a species known across the galaxy for slaughter and bloodshed.

But I kept telling myself, it was for Jake.

I had to bring Jake back home. I let him go on the mission for Ax without me. Now it was my job to bring him back. I could own that responsibility. But what about the others? Toby felt an allegiance to me and this cause simply because of Tobias and the fact that her people saw him as some sort of savior. In a way, he was. He had been guided by the Ellimist to free the first Hork-Bajir from the Yeerks, making the way for an entire colony of free Hork-Bajir.

But the others?

They were just government recruits. They had heard the stories about the Animorphs and our exploits against the Yeerks, just like everyone else. But they hadn't been there. They hadn't been in the battles, hadn't shed blood and nearly died on a distant planet or deep beneath the Earth in some inhuman alien structure. They didn't know the real nature of this world.

Or the evils that existed beyond the relative safety of our own planet.

"Why do I feel like we're missing a few details?" Cooper asked, drying his curly hair and shaking his head like a wet dog.

I glanced over at Agent Weathers. He nodded.

"We're going to read the final coordinates of the ship," I told them. "That's the reason why DIODE needed us to retrieve it. We need to find out exactly where the ship last was before it was somehow transported back to Earth."

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"Because we're going to find the missing Animorphs," I said.

**Chapter Twenty**

It was estimated to take two days for a team of former Controllers and Andalites to get the _Rachel_ back up and running. In that time, I decided to go home and talk to Ronnie. I felt like I had to ask permission, but I knew deep down that no one could stop me even if they tried.

I said my temporary goodbyes to Toby and the team, making the boys promise to practice morphing while I was gone. Toby assured me she would make them practice as much as possible while we waited to take off.

I borrowed one of DIODE's vehicles and took to the road, driving through the desert and back towards civilization. A few hours later, I was pulling into my driveway. Ronnie's Prius was there. He was at home, likely waiting for me to come home. I had texted him earlier, letting him know I was getting a brief respite before continuing on with the mission.

I hesitated at the front door, my key hovering at the lock. I took a deep breath, steadying myself, before going in.

I closed the door quietly behind me, wishing I could morph into a flea and be completely out of sight and avoid this entire conversation.

I found Ronnie sitting alone at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. He looked up, surprised. He smiled and rushed over to hug me. He smelled like sandalwood and soap. I breathed deep, letting my fingers run through his curly dark hair.

"I missed you, Wonder Woman," he whispered in my ear.

"I missed you, too," I said back, smiling.

"How long until you have to leave?" he asked, getting straight to business. I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest. I hate lying to people. Especially people I care about. I lied to my parents for years while I was fighting the Yeerks with the other Animorphs. I always felt such a blanket of guilt weighing down on me. It made me feel sick inside. Now, here I was, lying again.

"Day after tomorrow," I told him, tightening my embrace around him.

"You're not working on a wildlife project, are you?" he asked suddenly. I pulled back, extricating myself from his arms. I stared up at him, mouth agape, looking like a complete idiot. I didn't know how to respond.

"This is something to do with…," he said, pointing up at the ceiling. I figured what he meant. Space. Aliens.

I nodded, unable to say it out loud.

"Should I be worried?" Ronnie asked, concerned.

I bit my lip. How could I put this?

"I'm honestly not sure," I told him. "I think we have a real shot of bringing Jake and the others back home."

Ronnie's eyes darkened slightly at the mention of Jake's name.

"You found them?" he asked.

"We might have," I said, nodding, hugging myself tightly. "You understand why I have to do this, right? It's…I mean, it's Jake. And the others."

"Right," Ronnie said, nodding. He laughed derisively. "And the others."

"You know what I mean," I said, voice tight. "I owe everything to the Animorphs, Ronnie. They kept me alive for years. We all mean more to each other than…well, anything. I would do anything for any one of them. I have. I've completely discarded my morals for all of them at different times. If there's a chance that I can rescue them, bring them back home…"

"I understand," Ronnie said simply. He didn't look like he understood.

"I promise I'll come back," I said, reaching out to him.

Ronnie just shook his head, scoffing.

"You know what?" he snapped. "Don't bother. I thought you were finished with all of this, Cassie. I thought you wanted a normal life. I thought you wanted a life with me."

"I do!" I cried. Tears began to fall down my cheeks.

"Then stay," Ronnie pleaded.

I swallowed. I almost thought about it. But then I thought of Jake, somewhere all alone, out in space, held captive by an army of horrifying and deadly creatures. Maybe he was already dead.

But I had to know for sure. I had to do something.

"I can't," I whispered. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Then I guess that's it," Ronnie said, shrugging. I had never seen someone look so empty, so defeated, in my entire life. "I guess that's how it is."

He began to walk away from me.

"Ronnie, wait!" I called out.

A moment later, the door slammed shut. I was alone. I looked around and nothing looked familiar. I realized, too late, that I had just been living a lie. This wasn't my life. This wasn't what I was meant for. I had just been too afraid to admit it.

I stood in the kitchen and let the tears flow freely.

**Author's Note:**

To everyone who has been reading, I hope you have been enjoying this continuation so far! To those who have left reviews, I thank you ever so much! All feedback is welcome! I am so excited to put up the next batch of chapters, which will be the final set of chapters for this book. I think everyone is going to be EXTREMELY shocked by what happens in the rest of this book. I have a few twists and turns planned that I doubt anyone will see coming. I am also planning on continuing on after this book, so please let me know if you are FOR or AGAINST that idea. Hopefully you will want more, especially once this book is finished! Happy reading!


	5. Chapters 21 through 25

**Author's Note:**

I know I said in the last chapter that this batch would be the final chapters of the book, but I lied. LOL I decided that I just couldn't wrap up the final segment of this book in just five chapters, so expect another batch of chapters to follow this one, and that will end it. Enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty-One**

I spent the next day writing a letter to my parents.

It felt like I was leaving my last will and testament. Maybe I was. Who knew what would happen on this mission. I had been through a lot of battles and nearly gotten myself killed a hundred times. Back then, I had Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Marco and Ax watching my back.

This time…

This time, I was alone.

I had Toby, Justin, Oliver and Cooper, but it just wasn't the same. They weren't the ones who had been there with me from the beginning.

I told my parents everything that had happened since Agents Weathers and Stine had shown up on my driveway. They were the only two people I felt I could tell everything to. They were there with me at the end of the Yeerk war, when we had to relocate all of our family members to the secret Hork-Bajir valley.

I told them that I was going to rescue Jake and that I was finally going to bring him home, and this would all be over for good.

As I prepared to drive back to DIODE headquarters, I slid the letter into my mailbox, hoping my parents would understand that I was doing what was necessary, even if I hadn't believed in it at first myself.

A long drive later, I found myself back at the compound. I was quickly admitted through the security checkpoint and told to report to the tarmac. It was time to leave. I couldn't believe it.

I pulled up next to the tarmac a couple of minutes later and saw the _Rachel_ sitting there in all its glory. It gleamed beneath the sunlight, looking like a living weapon. It was very apparent it was Yeerk in nature, as it just exuded danger and power. Agent Weathers was standing there waiting for me.

I got out of the car, stepping onto the gravel.

"You're back just in time," Weathers said by way of greeting. "We're all loaded up and ready to go."

"We?" I echoed, confused. "You're coming with us?"

"Former Controller," Weathers said, pointing to his skull. I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised. There were thousands upon thousands of people all around the world who used to be slaves to the Yeerks. I had heard about support groups being formed all across the country for the involuntary hosts who were still dealing with the traumatic experience of being a Controller. "I learned a lot about flying Yeerk craft while I was enslaved."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," I muttered uncomfortably. "You never said anything before…"

"Not usually the way I introduce myself," Weathers said, grinning a little.

I realized then that he wasn't such a bad guy, after all. Sure, he was cocky and usually had nothing but a sarcastic remark as a reply to anything you said to him, and he barely ever smiled, but he had a good heart. I'm pretty good about seeing that in people. I could see that in him.

"You found the coordinates?" I asked.

"The Andalites confirm they are definitely from the Kelbrid quadrant," the agent responded, nodding briskly. "They are still pretty upset with us for staging this mission, but they know that we aren't bound by Andalite laws and can't be forced to uphold the treaty with the Kelbrid race. As an honorary Prince, Jake was supposed to be aware of the law he was breaking and stop."

"That isn't Jake," I said, chuckling.

"I can't wait to meet him in person," Weathers said genuinely.

"You think they're alive?" I asked, feeling like a little kid asking my father if Santa Claus was real. Feeble, helpless, but hopeful.

"There's only one way to find out, Cassie."

I nodded slowly. Suddenly, I heard a strange hissing noise as a side hatch opened on the _Rachel_, revealing Cooper, poking his head out.

"Are we going to get this tin can up and running or what?" he asked.

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Weathers and Toby manned the controls of the _Rachel_ on the bridge. Justin, Oliver, Cooper and I tried to keep ourselves occupied in the living quarters. Weathers had told us after we left Earth's atmosphere we would be in flight for a couple of days before we could enter Z-Space.

"What did you do on your time off?" Justin asked me. Oliver and Cooper were playing cards across the room from us.

"Nothing special," I replied, feeling my cheeks go warm. I didn't want to start thinking about what happened at home. If I started thinking about Ronnie and my parents and everything I'd left behind there to go on this mission, I would probably start crying again, and this time I might not be able to stop. "Just tying up some loose ends."

"I don't really have any family to speak of," Justin said, shrugging a little. "I've always sort of been a loner. I went to school and studied a lot. I guess people always thought I was some genius. But I just didn't have anything else to focus on."

I was a bit taken aback.

"I think that's the most you've spoken since we've met," I said, smiling.

"Not used to talking much," Justin mumbled, looking away.

"Have you been practicing your morphs like I asked?" I asked, changing the subject to something a little more comfortable for me to discuss.

"Yeah, but I think Cooper has been taking it a bit too seriously," Justin replied, glancing over at the massive hulk of a frat boy. He chuckled a little. "He just keeps talking about wanting to smash some Yeerks. We keep telling him there's no more Yeerks to smash, but he won't let it go."

I felt a warmth spread through my chest. I smiled despite myself.

"I used to know someone like that," I murmured softly.

Justin glanced around and lowered his voice an octave.

"You mean, someone who maybe this ship was named after?" he asked.

"Yeah, that someone," I replied reluctantly, nodding.

"What was it like?" Justin asked, looking up at me with such wide, almost innocent eyes. He seemed so young to me in that moment, even though we were probably about the same age. "Fighting the Yeerks, I mean. It must have been so exciting."

"It was a nightmare most of the time," I replied honestly. I shrugged my shoulders, knowing it wasn't the exciting, exhilarating story he was probably wanting to hear from me. But I felt the need to tell the truth. "I have seen things that I will never forget. They're burned into my memory forever. I've done things that would leave you waking up in the middle of the night screaming.

"You think you know what war is? Imagine being all alone and you can't even talk to your family about what you're going through. You don't know who you can trust because anyone could be the enemy. Imagine years of paranoia, doubt, death, bloodshed and loss. It isn't pretty. It isn't exciting. It isn't rewarding.

"War is ugly. It's a terrible, horrifying, endless black hole. But you know what I've learned after all this time? Maybe I knew it all along but I never really let myself completely come to terms with it. You see, I've always been the peaceful one. Cassie the pacifist. Cassie the tree-hugger. I would never hurt a fly. And trust me, I've been a fly, so I know how easy it would be.

"I've learned that war is necessary. There can't be peace without war. There can't be life without death. There's a balance to this universe. Maybe it's controlled by beings like the Ellimist and Crayak, maybe there's another higher power out there guiding us along. But it's all part of the natural order. Survival. In order to survive, sometimes we have to fight. And we always will."

I didn't realize that the entire time I was speaking, everyone on the ship had come closer and closer to me, listening to every word I said. They all had blank stares on their faces. Except for Toby, who is incapable of making much of any kind of facial expression seeing as she doesn't have a proper mouth. But if I could guess by her posture, she was standing very tall and proud.

"Pay attention, recruits," Weathers said with a nod. "You're listening to a pro."

With that, he promptly returned to the controls at the bridge. Cooper and Oliver had long since abandoned their playing cards. They both sat on the edge of a couch/bed combo, staring at me with wonderment and amazement.

"So, this might be the wrong time to ask, but are you single?" Cooper asked.

I chose to ignore that comment and got to my feet, leaving the living quarters behind and headed towards the bridge. I noticed Oliver elbow him in the ribs out of the corner of my eye. I sighed, rolling my eyes. Somehow this reminded me of the old days. And yet everything was completely different.

At the bridge, I could see out into the vast endless blackness of space. Toby was busying herself with some controls, adjusting our flight pattern and checking our weapons levels just in case we ran into trouble after making the Z-Space jump.

"How's everything going?" I asked.

"We're on schedule," Weathers replied. He shot me an approving glance over his shoulder as he ran a few diagnostic tests. "That was some speech you just gave back there. Sounded like it came from somewhere down deep."

"They have to know what they're getting into," I said heavily.

"I'm sure they admire your honesty," Weathers agreed. Toby made a strange coughing noise that I had never heard from a Hork-Bajir before. I had the sense that she was feeling slightly uncomfortable with all of the emotions flying around.

"It is time to enter Z-Space," she announced.

"Thank you, Toby," Agent Weathers said. He made some adjustments on the panels before him. It was all Greek to me. I was glad that he was here with us because I would have had absolutely no clue how to operate this machine. I watched as he punched in our ultimate destination by using the coordinates we pulled from the _Rachel_'s space logs. I imagined Jake standing just where Weathers was now, preparing to find and rescue Ax from the Kelbrid.

"Entering Z-Space now," Weathers said.

I felt a strange tug deep in my stomach and suddenly everything became almost blindingly white outside the ship. I couldn't feel it from where I was standing, but the ship was now moving faster than light speed through an inter-dimensional space that the human mind could barely even conceive of.

Within moments, we would be thrust out into another sector of the galaxy.

For an interminable amount of time, I was entranced by the strange, silky bands of light that danced around outside the ship as we raced through Z-Space. I was torn out of my reveries when Toby announced we were approaching the coordinates.

"Arrival in three…two…one…"

I took a deep breath.

The _Rachel_ was deposited from Z-Space as if we'd just appeared out of nowhere.

Straight into the middle of an armada of spacecraft.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

At least fifty deadly looking battle cruisers hung before us, all of their weapons aimed directly at us.

We'd just walked right into a trap.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Outmanned. Outgunned.

If we made a single move, we'd be vaporized in a second. We were at the mercy of this alien army. I assumed they were Kelbrid ships.

They were tube-shaped ships, with small engines on their side near the back, making them almost resemble a blimp. The only difference being that blimps don't usually have claw-like appendages emerging from either side with laser cannons attached at the end. The rear-end of the tube curved down into a sort of upside down scorpion tail. Likely ending in yet another weapon of some kind.

"We are being hailed by another vessel," Toby informed us. Cooper, Justin and Oliver slowly began to creep onto the bridge, taking in the army before us with wide eyes, once filled with hope and excitement, now brimming with abject terror and fear.

"Open communications," I ordered.

Toby flicked a few switched and pushed a button. Our view screen became opaque, turning into more of a projection screen. An image appeared before us. An Andalite. A very familiar Andalite.

"Ax!" I cried.

Then something truly bizarre happened. Ax's face split open, creating a jagged maw where there was once no mouth.

"Not quite," an eerie, maleficent voice boomed from Ax's "mouth".

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling a terrible chill run through my entire body. Whatever this being was we were speaking to, it was filled with an unspeakable amount of evil. I used to think Visser Three emanated this sort of palpable dread. But Visser Three was like a cuddly kitten compared to whatever this monstrosity was.

"I call myself The One," the thing that looked like Ax replied.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want to complete my collection," The One replied, twisting its horrible misshapen mouth into a wicked, cruel smile.

"Do you have Jake?" I demanded. "Where are my friends?"

"They're waiting for you, Cassie," The One sneered. Its eyes were completely black, as if they were covered in some thick, viscous fluid. "Would you like to come and say hello?"

I glanced between Weathers and Toby. Both of them stared back at me impassively, not uttering a word. I knew what that meant. They were leaving this all up to me. I was Cassie the Animorph, after all. This was my mission. I was the leader. I was going to have to make the decisions.

Before I could respond, The One vanished and the communications feed went dead. Several of the Kelbrid ships came toward us, encircling us on all sides. We were completely trapped.

"What do we do?" Oliver asked worriedly.

"What was that thing?" Cooper moaned, sounding like he'd just wet himself.

"Was that an Andalite?" Justin queried.

I didn't answer any of their questions. I could only picture the misshapen creature that I had been looking at that had once been a friend.

"Do we go with them?" Weathers asked.

"Not that we have much choice," Cooper murmured.

I was suddenly struck with a phrase that I hadn't heard in such a long time. Marco used to say it was a kiss of death. But it was almost like a lucky charm for us Animorphs.

I felt a wave of emotion roll over me as I thought about my best friend. I wished more than anything in that moment she could have been here with me.

"Let's do it," I said, and thought of Rachel.

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

We were escorted by the Kelbrid ships and soon came upon one of the most terrifying ships I had ever had the displeasure of viewing.

The Blade ship.

Visser Three's ship. It was the ship he pursued Elfangor in the night the Andalite Prince crash-landed in the construction site. Jet black, shaped like a battle ax. Sleek, sharp and absolutely deadly.

It hung in space before us, looming ahead like the weapon of a planet-sized executioner awaiting to kill us all.

"What is that?" Cooper breathed.

"Blade ship," Weathers replied, his lips pursed so hard together they were almost turning white from lack of blood flow. "Yeerk Vissers use them on their conquest missions. If I'm not mistaken, this particular ship used to belong to Visser Three, the leader of the Earth invasion."

"They're alive," I said, ignoring the entire conversation.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"They're alive," I repeated, laughing. I couldn't help it. I had to let it out. I don't know if it was the fear or the nerves or just the fact that I had finally snapped after all this time, but I just burst out laughing.

"She's lost it," Cooper said, shaking his head.

"No," I said, regaining my composure. "I just…I never really thought about what would happen when this moment finally came. But they're alive. Do you understand what that means?"

I was met with blank stares all around.

"We still have a chance!" I cried.

"Did you see that thing on the screen?" Justin asked, pointing at the view screen, which was now occupied with a view of a Kelbrid ship escorting us to the Blade ship. "It looked like it could rip us apart just by looking at us."

"It won't," I said confidently. "If that thing wanted to kill us, it would have done it by now. This is all just a show of power. But we have power too."

"I fear our chances of survival are slim," Toby said.

"If she's scared, we're definitely doomed," Cooper lamented.

"Just let me do the talking," I ordered them all.

Five minutes later, the floor shook as we docked with the Blade ship. We all shared one last glance before heading towards the side hatch of the _Rachel_. Weathers pulled an Andalite Shredder out from below his seat at the bridge, checking to make sure it was all powered up.

"Not as good as morphing, but close enough," he remarked.

"Alright guys," I said, addressing my team. I dug deep within my soul and tried to channel Jake. I knew everything he would have said, everything he would have done. I could imagine it all in my mind's eye. "Time for battle morphs. We're going to show The One that we aren't going down without a fight."

After a moment of hesitation, everybody but Toby and Weathers began to morph.

As I watched their bodies writhe and twist, becoming completely new forms, I thought about which morph I should use. I had several powerful morphs at my disposal, sure, and I usually went for the wolf. It had done me a lot of good in the past.

But then I thought about that final battle with the Yeerks.

Jake had sent Rachel to the Blade ship to kill Tom and prevent him from escaping into parts unknown to create his own army. Rachel had been killed by a Yeerk in morph. A polar bear.

"This is for you, Rachel," I whispered to myself.

Less than a second later, I erupted in bright white fur. Justin was just finishing his morph into a fearsome jaguar, his wide cat eyes gleaming. Oliver completed his wolf morph, a tail shooting out of his spine that sprouted fur. Cooper stomped one massive foot on the ground as he finished becoming a hulking rhinoceros.

There we stood, a polar bear surrounded by a slinking a jaguar, a growling wolf, a rumbling rhino, a devilish looking Hork-Bajir, and a highly trained government agent brandishing an Andalite weapon.

It was time to go into battle.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

We entered the Blade ship, a strange menagerie of creatures. In our own small way, we were armed to the teeth and ready for anything. We were in a large corridor that presumably led to the bridge of the ship, and it was completely empty. I surged ahead, the others right on my tail. Agent Weathers was at my side, keeping his Shredder leveled dead ahead of him in case he needed to fire.

We found ourselves on the bridge.

It was completely empty. No one or nothing in sight.

((I'm here,)) I called out in open thought-speak. ((If any of you can hear me, Jake, Tobias, Marco, it's me, Cassie! I'm here!))

A glimmer appeared before me, like a rip in space and time.

My polar bear vision was having a hard time making it out. Polar bear vision is about the same as humans, possibly a little weaker when it comes to staring into open space. Now get me to some water and I'd be able to see through it clear as glass. The glimmering rip grew and spread, crackling with energy.

It spread across the bridge, as if a page was being ripped away from a book, revealing a new one beneath it.

Suddenly I was seeing a very different scene.

We were completely surrounded by aliens. They were some of the most vicious things I had ever seen. They slightly resembled Hork-Bajir in build, but they were far more muscular and their joints did not end in blades. However, each many fingered hand ended in six inch long razor sharp claws. They stood just as tall as a Hork-Bajir, with a thick, almost rubbery looking hide of plated, armor-like skin that varied in shades of green to brown. Their necks sloped up, ending in a dragon-like bestial head, with crocodile-like jaws that constantly snapped and cracked. The strangest thing was massive dome stretching back from their skulls, dipping down well below their shoulders and down their back. They held their balance with six or seven foot long tails that swung behind them like bull-whips, much like an Andalite tail, only minus the blade.

These must have been Kelbrid.

"Do you like my pets?" a voice asked over the intercom system at the bridge. I assumed it was The One. The Kelbrid stood stoically all around us, as if they were statues. I could swear they were just slightly twitching, like rabid dogs being just barely contained by a steel chain, just itching for the chance to break free and cause some damage. "The Kelbrid possess a very rare and unique talent. Their brains are larger than any creature in the known galaxy. Unlike most species, who are only able to access anywhere between ten to fifteen per cent of their mental powers, the Kelbrid have access to over fifty per cent of their mind's power.

"As they've evolved, they have learned to create temporary illusions for anything within their vicinity. They can make you see anything they wish. The more they learn, the more they can create. They have had some wonderful teachers these past months. They've learned all of your wonderful little Animorph secrets."

((Why don't you stop talking and come out and show yourself,)) I demanded.

"I'm surprised at you, Cassie," The One's disembodied voice floated all around us. I had originally thought the voice was coming from some sort of speaker system, but now I was realizing that the voice was simply coming from out of thin air, as if projected magically. For all I knew, the Kelbrid were making this possible. "You were always so non-violent. Now you seem positively blood-thirsty."

((I'm willing to do a lot of things to save people I love,)) I said darkly.

"Is that so?" the voice said, now sounding far closer than before. It was coming from behind us.

We all turned around, which was a lot more awkward than it sounds. A few of us were very large at that moment.

If I had been in my own human body, I probably would have passed out.

"Nice to see you, Cassie," a very familiar face said, waving girlishly.

((Rachel?)) I whispered.


	6. Chapters 26 through 30

**Author's Note:**

Well, here it is, the final batch of chapters. I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

She looked older and her hair was longer.

But the young woman standing before us in a cute little printed sundress was unmistakably Rachel. My best friend Rachel. Crazy, reckless Rachel. Jake's private assassin. Fearless, confident, fashionista Rachel.

((I…I don't…I don't understand,)) I mumbled.

"You might as well demorph," Rachel said, almost sounding bored. "We aren't going to fight. Not yet, anyway."

I wasn't sure what to do. Was this a trick? The One said the Kelbrid could create illusions. If The One had been keeping the other Animorphs captive all this time, they would know that using an image of Rachel would be a weakness to us.

"It's not an illusion," Rachel said, as if reading my mind. She continued, "Cassie, I am reading your mind. This close to the Kelbrid, your thoughts are wide open to me. I'm connected to them, you see."

((Who are you?)) I said, shuddering on the inside.

((Cassie, should we be fighting?)) Cooper asked.

((Not now,)) I said to him in private thought-speak. I wasn't even sure just how private it actually was, if what "Rachel" was saying was true.

"Please, just demorph and I will explain everything," Rachel said.

After one more moment of defiance, we all complied and shed our battle morphs, returning to our natural human bodies. I suddenly felt extremely naked and open for attack, surrounded by drooling, snarling Kelbrid, just itching to break free and rip into me with those massive serrated claws.

"Very good," Rachel said, sounding pleased. "As I already told you, I call myself The One. I abandoned my given name long ago. When you get right down to it, names are meaningless in the end. What do they really say about you? You spend your entire existence just trying to live up to that name. When you release yourself from those shackles, you are free to become….well, anything you want."

"I don't understand," I said. "How…how can you be her? Rachel is dead."

A wry grin formed across Rachel's lips and she waved her pointer finger back and forth like a teacher scolding a small child.

"Not exactly," The One replied with Rachel's voice. "You see, ever since I began controlling the Kelbrid, I have become…what you would call, a master of disguise. Everything you saw on the Blade ship that fateful day was just a show. The Yeerk that 'killed' Rachel was one of my servants. He ingratiated himself into Visser Three's army and secretly gave himself the morphing power. He sacrificed himself by acquiring Rachel during the battle and let himself be killed."

"You mean, the body we…we didn't have the real…," I muttered, astonished.

"Not the real Rachel," The One finished, smiling darkly. It was so strange seeing Rachel this way. She had always been devious and a bit addicted to violence, but she had never been evil.

"What are you?" I whispered.

"I am the first," The One said, cocking one of Rachel's perfectly manicured eyebrows. "The original. The very first Yeerk."

"But the Yeerks have been around just as long as humans!" I cried. "You can't possibly still be alive!"

"Helps to have friends in high places," The One said, shrugging.

"Crayak," I muttered, instantly figuring it all out. The One must have made some sort of devil's pact with the Crayak, an all-powerful god-like creature that constantly seemed to be playing an intergalactic game of chess with the Ellimist, using species all across space and time as their pawns.

"Bingo," The One said, pointing at me. "You really were always the smartest of us all, Cassie."

"Don't," I spat. "Don't talk to me like you're her."

Rachel frowned.

"I'm sorry, does this form upset you?" she asked mockingly. "I thought about using Rachel to lure you Animorphs to me, so I could complete my collection. But I figured even you would be smart enough to realize that it must be some sort of trick, or trap. So I used my Kelbrid to capture Prince Aximili. Jake the Yeerk Killer couldn't resist coming after his old friend. I had to keep up the show for them or else they would know something was amiss. They tried to fight me at first, they really did. But in the end…"

I felt my jaw tighten as my teeth ground together. I couldn't believe after all this time, Rachel was still alive and yet a fate even worse than death had befallen her. She was a Controller.

"Where are they?" I demanded, voice low and seething.

Rachel waved a hand and the crackling energy I had seen before when the Kelbrid were revealed appeared once again. Chained to the far wall of the bridge, I saw Jake, Marco and Ax. Tobias was locked inside a frighteningly small cage, unable to even move his wings if he tried to.

I started to call out to them but Rachel interrupted me.

"They can't hear or see you," The One said flippantly. "They believe they are each trapped inside a box no larger than their own bodies. They tried morphing insects and other small creatures, but soon realized their efforts were quite fruitless. They are broken now. A pity, I thought they would have been more resilient."

I wanted to cry. Seeing the other Animorphs like this, trapped like animals, it was heart wrenching.

"Having all of this concentrated Kelbrid energy together in one place makes the illusion stronger," The One explained. It almost sounded proud. Maybe it was. It acted as if these Kelbrid were its children. "The Kelbrid have what you would call a hive mind. All of their brains are connected to one another. Control one and you control them all. It's all very nostalgic. The Kelbrid was my first host.

"It was as simple as acquiring the DNA of one of my precious pets, and the control remained in my grasp. I had been waiting a long time to take over this body. Why do you think Crayak showed such an interest in Rachel? I was waiting for her. Waiting for just the right moment to strike.

"Visser Three was so obsessed with being the first Yeerk to take an Andalite as a host. I had much loftier ambitions. I wanted the one host that showed no fear of the Yeerk empire. One that would look an entire army of Yeerks in the face and let loose a war cry, fighting until their last breath. Andalites are consumed with honor and loyalty and law. The humans are the true successors of this galaxy.

"Or at least, they would have been, if it weren't for me."

"You really like hearing yourself talk, don't you?" Cooper drawled. I shot him a quick warning glance. He shut his mouth, teeth clacking against one another.

I began to think. How were we ever going to get out of this?

I forced my mind completely blank. I imagined an open meadow and bright clear, sunny skies. I had to make sure The One wouldn't be able to read any of my thoughts.

"I came here to bring my friends back home," I told the vicious creature controlling my best friend's body. "And I intend to do just that. Even if we have to fight you. But I'm willing to negotiate."

The One seemed to contemplate this. I could tell it was trying to see what I was truly thinking, but failing.

"Intriguing," the Yeerk replied. "Go on."

"You want Animorphs?" I asked. "Fine. You can have them. In exchange for Jake, Tobias, Marco and Ax's freedom, I will give you my entire team. After that, we walk, free and clear."

The One smiled.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"Wait, WHAT?" Cooper cried, outraged. "You can't just give us up like this!"

"Shut up," I spat at him. "This isn't about you. Don't you understand that? You think you matter? Those are the Animorphs over there. They're heroes. They don't belong here. No one will miss you."

Cooper stopped talking, his face growing red from anger. Weathers was tight-lipped, unsure of what was happening. Oliver and Justin exchanged worried glances, fearing this was going to end very ugly for them all.

"How do I know you won't try to double cross me, Cassie the Animorph?" The One asked, still sounding intrigued.

"I'll morph to the most harmless animal I have," I told The One. "In an act of deference to you, I will be totally unable to stop you. You can't morph from one animal to another without going back to your natural body. So I won't have enough time to stop you. These recruits are still new to morphing. They won't be able to resist you."

"I accept your terms," Rachel/The One said. "You are smarter than I thought, Cassie. And quite a bit more ruthless. I admire ruthlessness."

I began morphing into a skunk. It was the first thing I could think of.

I immediately shrank down, becoming the size of a housecat. Black and white fur sprouted all over my body and a big, bushy tail swept out behind me. Within thirty seconds or so, the morph was complete.

((Weathers, Toby,)) I said in private thought-speak. I watched The One very carefully, knowing this was the only hitch in my plan. If the Yeerk could hear my thought-speak, it was all over. The One did not react. ((I need you to cause a diversion. Don't give any indication you can hear me. Do whatever you have to do. We need to get these Kelbrid to stop focusing long enough to stop them from using their powers.))

The One motioned to a batch of Kelbrid standing nearby.

"Take them all," she ordered.

((Guys, just play along,)) I said privately to Cooper, Justin and Oliver. ((Oh, and I'm sorry about saying you guys don't matter. I didn't mean that.))

In that moment, the entire bridge exploded in a flurry of sound and movement. As the Kelbrid advanced on the team, Weathers let loose a barrage of Shredder fire, vaporizing two Kelbrid within seconds. He began shooting the navigation consoles all around the bridge, damaging the ship's controls.

Toby let loose with a whirl of movement, slicing her blades through the air with deadly precision. Four Kelbrid were on the ground, still twitching, but very much not alive anymore.

((That'll work,)) I said. I scuttled across the floor as quickly as my skunk paws could carry me, trying to find a place to demorph. I had to get my hands on a Kelbrid and quickly, if my plan was going to work.

I found a nearby control station and quickly changed back to human. I could see Justin, Oliver and Cooper trying to morph back into their battle morphs as quickly as they could while Weathers and Toby provided cover. The Kelbrid were too busy protecting their precious leader and formulating battle strategies that they could not focus their mental powers towards creating illusions.

I finished the morph and leapt at a Kelbrid's back. Its tail flew in all directions, whipping left and right, trying to flick me off. I held on as tightly as possible, clamping down on the clammy, scaly skin, acquiring its DNA. It went limp beneath my grip and I slid off it, hiding underneath the work station.

The sounds of growls and shouts filled the air as the battle raged on just feet away from me. I hoped they were all doing okay.

"Don't kill them!" The One ordered to its Kelbrid army. "I need them alive to finish my collection!"

I was nervous. I didn't know if this plan of mine was even going to work. But something The One had said in its little speech stuck with me in my mind. It had said that to control one Kelbrid meant you could control them all. Somehow by acquiring a Kelbrid morph using Rachel's body, The One had maintained its control over the Kelbrid. I was hoping I could somehow do the same thing.

As the bridge shook beneath the might of the battle taking place, I took a deep breath and began to morph.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

It's always a bit scary to morph a new animal for the first time. Especially when it's an alien that you just encountered for the first time and you have absolutely no idea how it acts naturally and what sort of instincts you might be dealing with. I have morphed into predatory animals before, so I had some idea of what I was probably going to be experiencing, but nothing could have prepared me for the Kelbrid mind.

As the interlocking plates formed across my entire body and my six foot long muscular tail grew into place, the Kelbrid mind snapped into focus.

Immediately, it was like I could see through the eyes of every single Kelbrid in my vicinity. Like a gigantic screen of television sets, I could flit from view to view, accessing information from every fellow Kelbrid around me. I could see, hear, taste, feel absolutely everything.

We were as one.

It wasn't like we just shared a genetic memory. Jake had explained to us how the Howlers, a horrifying minion of Crayak's we encountered on a previous mission, had a common strand of memory that every Howler had access to, so they would be able to remember every battle they ever fought, thus making them nearly invincible. This was more than that. Our minds were literally fused together, as one.

I was hit with a barrage of thoughts. They were in a language I couldn't understand, but the sheer weight of the words crashed down on me like a pile of bricks. I couldn't move, I was so bogged down by the multitude of thoughts and commands and strategies floating through my mind.

((Get a grip, Cassie!)) I scolded myself. I had to get control!

I probed my mind, searching for the part of the Kelbrid brain that allowed me to create illusions. I felt like I could do almost anything! The Kelbrid brain was like technology light years ahead of anything I had ever seen or experienced. Imagine giving a Blackberry to a caveman. It was sort of like that.

Information overload.

I found that by just thinking about it, I could imagine images in my mind and if I concentrated hard enough, I could display them upon reality itself, almost like a biological cloaking device. This would have made the Chee extremely jealous.

I draped an illusion over myself so that I would appear invisible.

"I should have known better than to trust a human!" The One was crowing as it ordered its Kelbrid servants around the bridge of the Blade ship. Weathers, Toby, Justin, Oliver and Cooper were putting up a pretty decent fight, but the Kelbrid were strong. Much stronger than a Hork-Bajir, and I know from experience that it's hard enough trying to bring down a pack of those.

As the battle raged on, I hurried over to where Jake and the others were being held captive. I started to work on Jake's chains first. I concentrated as hard as I could and extended my illusion to him as well, making it look like he was still sitting there, as lifeless and emotionless as before.

He looked up at me, eyelids fluttering slowly.

((Jake, it's me, Cassie,)) I told him. ((I can't believe I found you.))

"Wh-Who are you?" Jake murmured, his voice dry and cracked. I felt a stab of fear slice through me. What if The One was telling the truth? What if Jake and the others were completely broken? Would they ever be normal again? I decided that it didn't matter. Whatever mental state they might be in, I had to get them back to Earth again. Back home.

((I'm going to get you out of here,)) I said.

I sliced through his chains with my claws. They melted right through the steel like they were paper.

I could get used to this.

I went to work freeing the others. Marco and Tobias were totally silent. I didn't have time to worry about whether or not they would ever break out of this fugue state. We'd be able to worry about that later.

I tore Ax free from his binds and locked eyes with him.

((Ax, can you talk?)) I demanded.

((I…,)) Ax murmured, then drifted off. His stalk eyes were drooping low, his main eyes distant and glazed over. He had been here the longest and had probably suffered the worst of them all. Who knew what sort of torture The One and its minions had incurred upon him before Jake and the others came along.

((Come on, you have to run!)) I cried.

I slung Marco over his back and held Tobias as gently as I could in the crook of one arm. With the other arm, I delicately grabbed Jake by the shoulders, carefully making sure not to impale him with the blades on my hands. I began pushing Ax across the bridge, dragging the others along with us.

((Time to go!)) I called to the others.

((I thought you were leaving us behind!)) Oliver cried out, then moaned in pain as a Kelbrid sliced at his flank, leaving behind a series of slashes deep along his midsection.

((I am!)) I replied.

In the place of the Animorphs, now sat my recruited team, bound by chains. They flailed and screamed, desperate to escape.

I strained my Kelbrid brain, desperate to create one last illusion.

This was the make it or break it moment. This had to work.

Or else none of us were getting out alive.

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

I could feel my control over the illusions slipping. I wasn't sure how well I could hold all of this up, and for how much longer. The Kelbrid's powers had seemed almost limitless at first, but now I could see that there were limits to what I was capable of. I remembered that The One had said something about the Kelbrid's being able to work together when they were close and draw energy from each other.

I probed outward with my mind and felt the connections with the other Kelbrid. I felt my mind's energy seeping out and mingling with the other aliens on the bridge. I then imagined myself pulling that energy into my own mind and suddenly I felt a surge of power thrust through me.

With a renewed sense of vigor, I created one more illusion. One I was hoping The One would not be able to see through.

The One saw me in my skunk morph, standing amidst the chaos of the battle that had just taken place. Kelbrid lay dead and dying all around us, and only Agent Weathers was left standing nearby me, bruised, bloodied and beaten down, but still alive. The traumatized Animorphs were huddled in a pile next to me.

In their place, Justin, Oliver, Cooper and Toby sat helpless in chains.

"That really wasn't necessary," The One said coldly, motioning to the dead bodies lying around all across the bridge. "But I must say, I do admire the dramatics of it all. It proves to me that you will be a formidable opponent."

((What do you mean, opponent?)) I asked. ((You have what you wanted.))

"Oh, not nearly," The One sneered. "I'm just getting started. You see, I've been quite busy ever since Visser Three lost that little skirmish of his on planet Earth. I've been breeding a whole new army of Yeerks. They're just itching to get their very own hosts. Kelbrid aren't viable hosts because their brains are simply much too large and we cannot properly control their bodies."

((We'll stop you,)) I warned. ((We stopped the Yeerks before.))

"Yes, but there were six of you then," The One replied. "Now there is only one of you. The others are completely useless to you now that I'm done playing with them. Soon enough, so will my new toys. And you'll never be able to stop me alone. Your human military won't stand a chance against my new empire."

((I can always make more Animorphs,)) I threatened.

"Make as many as you like," The One said, grinning. "Not a force in this world will be able to stop me soon enough. I have someone very special watching over me. Better hope you still have a few tricks up your sleeve, Cassie the Animorph."

I focused as much Kelbrid energy as I could muster into letting The One see me as a skunk demorph into my human form. The One watched as "I" helped "Weathers" gather up the fallen Animorphs and warily retreat from the bridge of the Blade ship. The One watched us with Rachel's eyes, still gloating over its apparent victory and imminent invasion of Earth.

Sometimes pride is a weakness.

Once we were safely aboard the _Rachel_, I carefully laid the Animorphs out on beds as Weathers took control of the ship and entered Z-Space as quickly as possible. I began to demorph, letting the Kelbrid body melt away and return to my normal human self. I watched as the others did the same, all of their injuries from the battle vanishing as they became human once more.

Toby took her place next to Agent Weathers, manning her station as she did before on the trip out.

"How long you think until she realizes she's got nothing but a few dead Kelbrid chained up back there?" Cooper asked, grinning lopsidedly.

I swear I could hear The One's screams of frustration from light years away.

**Chapter Thirty**

Three days later, I was sitting in the medical bay of the DIODE compound, where I had sequestered myself ever since we had gotten back from the Kelbrid quadrant. Agent Weathers had been nearly invisible, he had been piled down with so much paperwork to fill out regarding our mission.

It was my understanding that he was leaving a lot of what happened out of the official story. He and I worked everything out on the way back to Earth. We decided that it was best not to share The One's intentions of invading Earth with anyone else. The only thing that would do was incite mass panic and hysteria.

No, the only way we were going to win this war would be to fight it like we did before. Secretly, guerilla style. No one could know we were awaiting another Yeerk invasion.

The government wouldn't be able to handle it. The Andalites would just want to come in and take over the planet. They might decide that humans weren't really all that worth protecting after all, and decimate Earth. Our true allies were few in number, and the only people we could truly depend on was each other.

I adjusted myself in the chair next to Jake's hospital bed, where he had been ever since we got back to Earth. Marco was still asleep in the bed next to him. Neither one of them had woken up yet since we disembarked from the _Rachel_.

Tobias and Ax were being looked after by the Andalites on staff. Weathers had assured me that there would be tons of questions once they were all up and running again and we would have a lot of explaining to do.

That was a fight for another day.

I yawned, stretching my stiffened limbs. I glanced at my wristwatch. I had been sitting there for almost eight hours so far that day. I leaned back in the chair, thinking about going to my sleeping quarters the agents had been kind enough to assign to me. But then Jake started to stir on his bed.

I quickly got up and raced to his side.

"Jake?" I whispered. "Jake, can you hear me?"

Jake's eyes slowly began to open. They were surrounded by dark circles and his skin was a lot paler than usual, due to lack of sunlight exposure. He was malnourished and looked very frail and sickly. He was connected to so many wires and tubes and machines that it was hard to tell where one began and another ended.

But he was alive. They all were.

"Cassie," Jake whispered through dry, cracked lips. "You saved us."

Without any warning, I immediately began to cry. I tried to choke back the tears, but I hadn't seen or spoken to Jake in so long. I had started to think I would never even see him again, let alone be able to touch him or speak to him.

"I did what had to be done," I said in a hushed voice.

"I'm so happy to see you," Jake whispered. He tried adjusting himself in the bed, but winced in pain, settling back down into the soft sheets and pillows. I gently caressed his forehead.

"Don't try to move yet," I said gently. "You need to get your strength back. Do you remember anything that happened to you?"

"Bits and pieces," he said, nodding a little. "I remember trying to ram the Blade ship. I gave the order. But then…everything went blurry. It was like I was seeing things that weren't there. Everything happened so fast. Before we really even knew what was going on, Menderash, Jeanne and Santorelli were all dead. And then we were being held captive by these horrifying looking creatures…"

"The Kelbrid," I supplied.

"Yes," Jake agreed, his eyes distant and haunted.

"What else do you remember?" I prodded.

"Rachel was there," Jake said, sounding confused. "But I don't understand how that's even possible. I think The One was just trying to torture us. Break us."

"Shh," I said as soothingly as I could, pushing some of Jake's hair back from his forehead. "Don't think about any of that right now. All that matters is that you're here now, with me. You're safe now."

Jake blinked a few times and looked straight into my eyes. Straight into my soul.

"It's starting all over again, isn't it?" he asked.

I let my hand slide down and gently placed my palm against his. Our fingers interlocked, tightening together.

"We'll deal with it," I promised him. "Together."

* * *

><p><em><strong>COMING SOON:<strong>_

_**Book 56: The Allegiance**_

Find out what will happen with Jake, Marco, Tobias and Ax. How will they escape being convicted as Andalite war criminals? Moreover, will they be strong enough to come together and stop The One's army of Yeerks from getting their invasion started on Earth? Discover the secrets behind The One's dealings with Crayak and more, when the Animorphs Continuation returns...


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